


The Rainbow Series Part II - Rainbow Warriors (Twelve)

by Annejackdanny



Series: Still Jack and Daniel Series 4 - The Rianbow Series [3]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Kidfic, M/M, Male Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-06-05 18:04:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 83,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15176327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annejackdanny/pseuds/Annejackdanny
Summary: Summary: The Ori war continues, everyone tries to cope differently, Little Daniel is looking for answers in new places, Big Daniel is trying to find Merlin's weapon, Jack is trying to hold everything together.This story will eventually deal with DADT and the sexual orientation of teens. It also contains teens smoking weed. At the end of this story there will be explicit sexual contents between men (Jack/Daniel). Please look here for additional warnings for each chapter, thank you!





	1. Rainbow Warriors - Chapter I

**Author's Note:**

> This story is best read if you have read other installments of the SJD series before. I am straying from canon and I had no choice, but tweaking the whole Ori matter a little bit to to make it fit my universe here. Please keep in mind that I have no Vala and no Adria and my Big Daniel never got ascended, so I had to twist and tweak. But I tried to stick to canon at least in the basic ways. 
> 
> LD is going to be 12 years old in this story, it's set in summer 2007.
> 
> This story is actually set BEFORE the Christmas story I posted last year. I am sorry about that, I usually never write out of order, but this one gave me so much trouble in every which way. From me writing myself in corners to me losing this story TWICE to computer crashes and ext. HD crash. So it took a lot of time and courage to write and finish this eventually, but I did!
> 
> Some lines and parts of the plot were taken from the transcripts of the episodes “The Fourth Horseman I and II. In fact I quoted a lot of what Gerak talks about on Dakara from this episode. My apologies, but there was no point in re-writing those words/quotes to make them my own. So I shamelessly stole them from the canon transcript :)
> 
> http://www.stargatesg1solutions.com/wiki/9.11_"The_Fourth_Horseman_Part_2"_Transcript
> 
> Quotes from The Book of Origin were taken from ff.net by Boltcraft  
> https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4673756/1/The-Book-of-Origin
> 
>  
> 
> My love and thanks goes out to Char who cheerleaded and betaed me through this monster of a story. And to Ren who did a lot of handholding through this as well (read: listened to my whinings) Thank you, both, your continuing friendship and support is what kept me going even when I was so close to just pouring this whole thing down the drain. 
> 
> And I want to thank every one of you who is reading this... thanks for sticking with me and my boys through all these years!

**Rainbow Warriors**

  


**I**

“It's SG-15, they're coming in hot, sir!” Walter's voice rose above the blaring klaxons.

“Open it!” Jack jogged down the last couple of steps into the control room.

The wham-bam-wham of fire blasts hitting the iris morphed into actual salvo of glowing energy balls zipping out of the event horizon and slamming against the walls.

Figures were coming through, two stumbling and going down, one limping, one running full force down the ramp.

Jack was blinded by the brightness of another hit just when the blast window started to come down.

“Close it, close it, no one else is coming through!” he heard Dixon bellow.

At a curt nod from Jack, Walter shut the iris and ordered the medical team in. A moment passed before the blast window moved back up again to reveal the gate room. The kalxons had stopped, the gate stood still and silent. The scorch marks on the walls and the still on-alert SF were an all too familiar sight lately.

Jack gritted his teeth, his eyes raking over his men.

Those who had returned.

Four out of eight.

Dixon, Meyers, Jefferson.

_Daniel._

Jack was on his way down in a flash.

Fraiser and two nurses with a gurney passed him just when he reached the gate room door.

Jack followed them in, quickly assessing the scene.

Dixon was holding his arm, but looked grim and determined. “Was a damn trap, sir,” he greeted Jack. “They were everywhere, we didn't stand a chance.” He looked back at the gate, absently cradling his arm. “We lost SG-17. All of them.” After a short pause. “And... Winter.”

Winter was… had been… SG-15's fourth, a young thriving Lieutenant. Smart as a whip, best ratings on the shooting range. Able to think outside the box. Good man with a promising future. Bit of attitude – he had reminded Jack of himself when he'd been a pilot, bursting with energy and temper. Winter was… had been… a good man with a promising future if he had managed to stay out of serious trouble.

_Dead. No future at all._

_Bastards,_ Jack thought. Third time this month. And this month wasn't even halfway over yet. “Come see me when you had that arm checked out,” he said quietly.

Dixon's jaw clenched. “When you call Marc Winter's family… Someone has to drop his stuff off at his place...”

“I'll let them know you'll come out to talk to them in person.”

“Yeah. I'll tell Frank, too.” Dixon grimaced. “He's on duty, right? Billox?”

“Yeah.” Winter was… had been Frank Billox' nephew. Jack patted Dixon's shoulder before he turned to his other men.

Meyers, SG-15's civilian consultant, was holding onto the banister of the ramp, his ankle twisted in an awkward way. He also sported a bleeding gash on his temple. He was immediately tended to and helped to lie on the gurney.

Captain Jefferson had a nasty burn on his arm. Fraiser waved him out of the gate room, one of the nurses at his side. Dixon followed them, cursing under his breath.

Daniel was in the process of slowly getting up from where he had crashed on the ramp.

He sported a bruise on his left cheekbone, but held up his hands dismissively when Fraiser approached him. “I'm fine!”

“You let me be the judge of that,” she replied brusquely and rushed out after her staff.

“What happened?” Jack fell into step with him a moment later.

“We came through, we told them who we were. They pretended to be interested in an alliance, asked us to come to their village. We went with them and got ambushed. That's what happened.”

“So, another set up,” Jack ground out.

“Yep, pretty much.” Daniel rubbed at a spot of drying blood on his jacket. Not his own, as far as Jack could tell.

Once the Ori had realized their supergates were guarded and they couldn't send their fleets through as easily as planned, they had started to change tactics. They let their worshipers work for them, build armies on every planet they had turned. Ordered them to lure anyone who came through the gate, and didn't follow Origin, into an ambush.

Jack had started sending out his teams with backup, but it wasn't always enough.

“If this keeps happening they'll force us to stop first contact missions,” he muttered.

“If they do that we'll lose any chance of finding an ally who might actually be able to contribute something valuable in this mess,” Daniel snapped.

Jack knew the harsh tone wasn't directed at him, only at the situation itself, but he heard the same edge creep into his own voice. “Oh, c'mon, Daniel, you know what it's like. Those who could help us, won't and those who want to help us, can't.” Jack was tired of it. He was tired of risking the lives of his men searching for the needle in the haystack.

“So, what? We just stop looking and wait for them to come?”

And then there was that. They couldn't stop. He threw up his hands. “No. But I'm not holding my breath here. And you know Woolsey, he's fretting enough as it is already. If I don't give the IOA something, anything, soon, heads are gonna roll. My head, to be specific.”

“Well, there are still four more planets to check from Merlin's list,” Daniel pointed out.

“Oh, yeah, the list of enlightenment,” Jack scoffed. “Runes and riddles.”

Daniel shook his head, but didn't reply. Jack looked at his pale pinched face, the bruise on his cheekbone a nasty purple blotch. His lips were pressed into thin hard line. Something else was up. “What?”

“Those villagers had staffs. And zats.,” Daniel said flatly. “They weren't Jaffa, but they had staffs. And not just a couple of them. Everyone of those damn villagers seemed to have one. And they could fight. I mean, really fight. They knew their stuff. Hand-to-hand, wielding those staffs like pros.”

“Curious and curiouser.”

“Dixon thinks the Ori turned a Jaffa inhabited planet and are now arming all their worlds with staffs.”

“What do _you_ think?”

Daniel shook his head. “I don't know what to think. He could be right.”

“ _Or_ someone out there made a deal with those fellas.”

“Arms trafficking.”

“Staffs in exchange for… what? Tickets to the glowy club? Ships? Technology?”

Daniel shrugged. “Or simply in trade for being left alone. We live in desperate times.” He rubbed at the back of his head and winced. Then he patted down the pockets of his tac vest and, with stiff fingers, pulled out a blackened slip of metal. “Marc fell right next to me.” He handed Jack the tag. “It happened so fast. He didn't suffer.”

Jack took it, so light and small and yet so heavy in his hand. He couldn't tell his family anything. Just like he couldn't tell the families of SG-17 a thing about how their fathers, husbands, wives, sisters and brothers had died. But Dixon could give Winter's folks this and assure them their son had died in defense of the freedom of his country. Jack hoped the Winters were among those who sought comfort from the fact their son was a hero now.

“You okay?” Jack didn't like how dark Daniel's eyes were, how stoney. Didn't like the flatness of his voice, almost detached. But then it was how most of them reacted, coped. Function, go through the motions, grieve later.

“Bumps and bruises.” He shrugged it off.

Bumps and bruises Jack could live with. The rest of the fallout from this particular war they had to work out later. He could live with that too. As long as there was a later.

* * *

_He is walking over a meadow covered in wild flowers. Violet, blue, white, red, yellow... all the colors of the rainbow. The clearing is surrounded by high trees in lush greens and browns. Above him the sky stretches like a stainless blue blanket, sun rays and shadows are dancing over the grass and between the trees. The high grass almost reaches his knees and he treads carefully so he won't hurt the flowers. Blades of grass and soft leaves tickle the soles of his bare feet and for a moment he_ _wonders_ _why he isn't wearing shoes... but it doesn't matter... He continues on_ _a beaten_ _path sprinkled with pine needles. The ground is soft and he doesn't make a sound as he keeps walking and finally steps out of the woods._

_He can see something in the distance, uphill, ahead of him._

_Rocks piled up into some sort of structure._

_The path is uneven and_ _a bit rocky_ _as he continues upwards. He has to watch his step to avoid stepping on rough bark and scrubs on the ground._

_Daniel reaches the top, a flat plateau. He isn't sweating and he can neither feel the sun or wind or any air shift. He's in a vacuum of some sort, but he can still breathe._

_He has reached the stone structure. Two circles of boulders and a cross built of rocks within it. A medicine wheel, probably. There is a cairn in the middle of the cross. Daniel steps closer, but there isn't anything else. No symbols, no pictographs, no sign of another being._

“ _Aiyana?” he calls without really expecting an answer._

_He has been here several times before. He'_ _s_ _stood inside the circle and outside of it._

_Nothing ever happens here._

_He tilts his head, straining his ears and eyes for any sound, any flash of lightning, any sign that there is someone with him here._

_There is nothing. No one. Only stillness._

_Daniel turns away and walks down the hill, back to the meadow and the trees. Slowly the trees fade away, the colorful flowers pale and vanish…._

  


With a suppressed sigh Little Daniel returned to the room his body had never left. As he opened his eyes the flicker of the lit candles surrounded him and he could make out Teal’c’s still figure, mirroring his own posture, sitting lotus style across from him.

They looked at each other and bowed their heads to mark the end of kel’no’reem.

“Did you not find what you were looking for, young Daniel?” Teal’c’s voice was soft, just above a murmur.

Daniel knew it was pointless to try and convince Teal’c that he had just come here for simple meditation. He’d been here almost twice every week for a while now and he had never joined Teal’c in kel’no’reem that often before. His friend had to know something was up.

“No, I didn’t,” Daniel replied somewhat reluctantly. “But thank you for doing this with me, Teal’c.”

Teal’c bowed his head again. “Always.”

“It helps to clear my mind of all the clutter at least.” It was true. He always felt refreshed after he’d meditated with Teal’c. It hadn’t been until recently that he’d started up kel’no’reeming on a regular basis again. And while it didn’t bring him any closer to his goal, it was still recharging.

“Can I be of any assistance to help you find what you seek?” Teal’c’s dark eyes searched his and Daniel was unable to look away.

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s really stupid to try...” Daniel trailed of and caught himself biting his bottom lip.

“I do not believe you to be stupid.” Teal’c rose in one fluent movement, a grace that spoke of excellent body control. “If you wish to talk about it I will try to help.” He walked around and gently snuffed out the candles, one by one, with a bronze-colored candlesnuffer.

“Thanks, T.” He got up and adjusted his blue BDU shirt. “I better get back to work.”

“Very well. I will see you at lunch.” Teal’c shrugged out of the brown robe he often wore during kel’no’reem. He had brought it from Chulak years ago. The robe wasn't required for meditation, but Teal’c had told Daniel it reminded him of home and his family.

“Okay.” Daniel slipped out the door, blinking a couple of times. The lights in the hallways were bright compared to the cozy dimmed candlelight in Teal’c’s quarters.

He sauntered down the corridor and greeted two airmen on his way, his thoughts still circling around the fact that he had failed – again. He tried not to give in to frustration, but it was getting harder to stay upbeat with every time he tried and came up with nothing.

There had been another ambush this morning. He had heard the kalxons going off and hoped no one had died. Every fiber of him had itched to run to the gate room, to see for himself. But he didn't want to get into the way of the medics and SF. So he had gone to the control room and gotten the basic report from Walter while he watched the medics and Janet taking care of the injured men.

Eight had left for this first contact mission. Only four had returned.

Marc Winter was dead.

BD was okay. Daniel had seen him leave the gate room with Jack. He had breathed a sigh of relief, but that relief was clouded by the fact that – again – men had died out there.

He had known Winter from briefings. He'd always been interested in what intel Daniel had to offer even when Colonel Dixon had rolled his eyes and urged him to get down to basics. Daniel had liked Winter, even though he hadn't known him well.

He hadn't known any of the members of SG-17 at all. They had been assigned to watch the six of Dixon's team, marines, all of them. The backup teams weren't usually briefed on cultural backgrounds of the planets they'd been sent to unless it was a need-to-know situation. They had been specialized in combat.

All dead.

Daniel pushed it away, stomped on it, locked it with the other Ori related reports he'd seen and heard over the last couple of months.

Photos of the mysterious runes were waiting in his office. And a ton of other translations he kept working on in turns. Temple wall footage, pictographs found on cave walls, scrolls and stone tablets. He should get on with that. After all he had almost found the ultimate solution to their Ori problem several weeks ago. Sadly, 'almost' didn't mean a lot when it came down to it. But it could have been…

Almost two years ago SG-1 had discovered Merlin's treasure in the underground caves of Avalon in Glastonbury Tor in England. In hindsight it had actually started the whole Ori mess, but they couldn't have known that at the time. BD had brought back incredible finds, an interdimensional device - a stone tablet with moving pages - written by Merlin, among them. It turned out to be a scientific journal of the real Merlin, the wizard from the Arthurian legends, who had apparently been an Ancient. Until recently they had assumed Merlin had ascended at some point and just left his research and studies on Earth.

The Daniels had successfully read and translated most of the database stored in the interdimensional device before its power had fully drained. The more they had discovered, the more certain they'd been that Merlin had worked on a way to defeat the Ori. He had defied the non-interference rule and worked in secrecy. And that's why he had to leave Earth at one point.

It had been LD who finally discovered the gate address of the planet Merlin had gone to in order to continue his research.

Of course SG-1 hadn't taken him with them on that mission and it had been the first time in years that he had actually been mad at them for leaving him on base as they hunted down one of the most fascinating figures of Earth's history and to find the sangraal. But that was how things were now. Jack kept him earth side and that was that. And not even BD, Sam or Teal'c had put in a word for him, which had actually hurt more than Jack's flat refusal to let him go.

Daniel was well aware what the Ori being out there meant and that there was no such thing as safe missions anymore. They could show up anywhere at anytime, you never knew.

It wasn't even that he was keen on fighting the Ori or the priors face to face. He knew he couldn't do that. He just wanted to be part of the trouble shooting again. He wanted to be part of the team.

An _active_ part of the team.

And yet… and yet part of him was glad to hide behind books, stone tables and scrolls. Which was probably why he hadn't put up that much of a fight. He'd slammed doors and sulked for a couple of hours, but in the end he had accepted Jack's orders and his anger had been deflated by resignation.

They kept telling him he was the 'brain', the chief researcher, the guy behind the team. He was important, just in a different way. He knew they really meant that and he had always taken his responsibilities, his job, very seriously. But as time marched on with no end of this war in sight he wished he could do more. Contribute more.

He was restless. And frustrated.

Like probably everyone else on this base.

Instead of going to his office he decided to stop by Sam’s lab to see if he could cajole her into sharing some of her cookie stash with him. His own was gone. Working with your brain required lots of energy and Daniel always worked best with cookies and coffee at hand. Of course his personal watchdogs kept an eye on said cookies and coffee habit, but they only reported to Jack if it got really bad and that didn't happen.

Not a lot anyway.

When he entered Sam’s lab he found her and Bill Lee staring at a monitor that showed some kind of brainscan.

Lee waved at the screen. “Look, I mean, all we have is a bunch of uncorrelated data and-and a theory. Yeah, I mean, I admit, it's a pretty "sound" theory, if you'll pardon the pun. Ultrasonic waves…”

“Yes, Bill, it’s all we have so this is what we’re working with,” Sam said, a hint of irritation in her voice.

Daniel said, “Hi,” and she turned around, giving him a smile.

“Hey, Daniel, what’s up?”

“What are you doing?” he asked back, pointing at the monitor.

“Trying to create a miracle,” Bill Lee muttered.

Sam nodded. “Something like that. Remember Khalek?”

Daniel grimaced. “Sure. I heard he was a very entertaining guy.”

SG-1 had found Khalek in a deserted lab on P3X-584. He’d been in a stasis pod and turned out to be an artificial clone. He had been a parting gift from Anubis, so to speak. Anubis had created Khalek from his own pre-ascended host and symbiote DNA plus some Ancient DNA. They didn’t know for how long the clone had been in stasis, but Khalek had definitely been ‘in transit’ to ascend. BD assumed that Anubis had planned to use him as a new host once he’d nearly completed ascension. Or as a legacy to take over the universe. A perverted twisted version of a ‘son’.

BD had figured all that out as he studied the progress of Khalek’s treatments in the laboratory logs. Finally they had decided to leave him where he was and just take the notes and test results. Sam and Janet had studied the medical logs they brought home and then had gone over them with Daniel and BD. Together they had decided it wasn’t a good idea to leave the clone on the planet because if he ever regained consciousness he could complete his treatment and ascend.

Jack had ordered the lab blown up, along with Khalek. But the IOA’s advocate Richard Woolsey happened to be on base at the time and quickly overruled that order. Boy, Jack had been mad. And for once even BD had sided with him and insisted the clone had to be killed. Anubis had created a monster.

But the IOA would have none of it. They had insisted Khalek had to be studied in an effort to come up with some countermeasures to the priors. So SG-1 had gotten him out of stasis, brought him through and locked him up in the infirmary.

Little Daniel had never met him or even taken a look at him, so he only knew what his friends had told him and what he had read in their reports. Of course he had wanted to see him, but both Jack and BD had refused to even let him near the infirmary.

They had brought home part of Anubis’ equipment from the planet to measure Khalek’s extraordinary brain patterns and to monitor his psychic ‘gifts’ like telekinesis and other powers. Khalek's hearing had been excellent and his vision far above normal human ability. BD had suspected he'd been able to read their minds to some extent.

Teal’c had stood guard in front of Khalek’s quarters 24/7, his staff ready. They had turned Khalek’s room into a super-cell. Electrified the floor and put a Tok’ra shield on the door so that it could only be used one way and one needed a remote to get out of the room from the inside.

Daniel hadn’t seen for himself what had gone down, but Khalek tried to escape and used his powers to disarm and kill guards and no electrified floor or Tok’ra Shields had been able to stop him. There had been a showdown in the gateroom and finally BD and Teal’c had managed to kill Khalek by shooting heaps of bullets into him.

So much for Khalek and the IOA's stupid orders.

Sam pointed at the monitor. “This is his brainscan. You know he had telekinetic powers and could control minds or read them...” She frowned. Daniel knew the concept of mental powers never sat well with her because they couldn’t be explained with sound-proof science. Daniel thought it was kind of funny that even after all these years she struggled with this. “Anyway... based on the research that was done on Khalek, we believe we may be close to developing a technology that could inhibit a prior's special abilities.”

“Do you think Khalek’s brain patterns are similar to theirs?” Daniel leaned forward to study the scan.

“The priors have similar abilities. And the Ori and the Ancients are related,” Bill Lee pointed out.

“Are we talking about an anti-prior gun here? Jack’s going to give you a medal if this works out,” Daniel said.

Bill Lee snorted. “Anti-prior gun! I like that! Even though it won’t be a gun, not exactly. It would be more like messing with their brain frequencies, like planting an interfering transmitter into their brains.”

“See, BD was able to shoot Khalek in the gateroom because he was so focused on defending himself from Teal’c... He could whip the staff out of Teal’c’s hand with just using his mind. He could send Teal’c flying against a wall... but he needed all his focus for Teal’c,” Sam explained.

“Which means he wasn’t omnipotent,” Daniel concluded.

“Exactly, And we think the priors might be the same. We've identified specific portions of the brain that were active when Khalek was using his unique abilities. He had those abilities because he was in a much more evolved state, very close to ascension. Now we're hoping the Ori are affecting the priors in much the same way.”

Daniel blinked. “That could actually work, don’t you think?”

She nodded. “Dr. Lee and I are working on a way of targeting and neutralizing those higher brain functions using a field generator emitting fluctuating ultrasonic frequencies. I don't want to sound overly optimistic, but I think we may be close to testing within a couple of days.”

Bill Lee snorted again. “Your word in whoever’s ear, Colonel.”

Daniel nudged him. “Hey, this is the closest we’ve ever come to find a way of fighting them!”

“Ye-ah, I just don’t think it’s time for celebrating yet,” Bill muttered.

Sam shrugged. “But it’s a start.” She turned to Daniel. “Did you want something or were you just stopping by to scrounge some cookies?”

Daniel grinned a bit sheepishly. “Cookies.”

She opened a drawer underneath her work counter and rummaged around in it until she came up with a bag of chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. She tossed it and he caught it. “Cool. Thanks.”

“I don’t know how you can eat all these cookies and it never shows,” she muttered.

“I’m still growing,” he said with a shrug.

“And his body is much younger than yours,” Bill Lee added absently. He was still studying the brain scan.

Sam stared at him. “Thank you, Bill. That was... helpful. Not.”

Bill nodded, “You’re welcome.”

Daniel bit his lip to keep a straight face. When Sam turned his glare on him, he waved the bag at her. “Thanks. And good luck with the anti-prior gun. I know you guys can do it!” He gave them the thumb’s up and left.

Ten minutes later he was slouched on the old couch in his office, balancing his laptop on his knees. Flyboy had reluctantly made space and was now perched at the other end of the couch. They used to perfectly fit on this couch together, dog and boy, side by side, or dog on top of boy. But the couch was rather smallish and Daniel had grown quite a bit over the last two years, so now it took some effort for them to be on this couch together. It still worked, but it wasn’t all that comfortable anymore.

Daniel had opened his translated file of the Book of Origin. He needed to look something up in relation with his latest translation of a scroll SG-1 had brought back two days ago.

“Listen to this crap,” Daniel said and Flyboy’s ears twitched. “Now it came to pass that in the land of the low valley, there was an iron serpent called Leviathan, which was most terrible and fierce, and it did rule over the people.”

Flyboy yawned.

“Well, you haven’t heard the good part yet. Now Leviathan was not like unto the Ori, giving freely and kindly unto all with faith, nor was it like unto the Alterra who do creep in shadow. For it did burden its people always with labors most grievous to the borne and notwithstanding the obedience of the people it showed unto them no mercy nor kindness.” He gave his dog a prompting look. “Who might that be, huh?”

“Let me take an educated guess... the Goa’uld.” BD was standing in the open doorway, carrying a couple of books and balancing a coffee mug on top of them.

“And the Ori halo of the month goes to this brilliant guy!” Daniel closed the laptop and placed it on the floor next to his mug. He spotted a bruise on the left side of BD's face and winced. “That looks nasty.”

BD shrugged. “It'll heal.” Daniel could see it in his eyes; t _he others weren't so lucky._

Daniel glanced at his big counterpart. “I'm sorry.”

BD pulled up his shoulders as if he was cold. Maybe he was. “There's no getting used to this.”

“I'm glad you're back.” Daniel resisted the strong urge to get up and hug him, cling to him, just for a moment. He didn't have the excuse of being that little anymore. And BD had a weird air of remoteness around him. Daniel had a feeling that hugging him now would tear down carefully built walls.

“Yeah. Me too.”

There was nothing else to say. They had both lived with the casualties of war for too long to try and cover things up with the usual phrases and platitudes. But that didn't mean it got easier.

And this particular war was different. The Goa'uld had been evil, but at least they could be killed by weapons. Not easily, but it was possible. The priors however, not so much. They plowed on, leaving destruction and enslavement in their wake. And the Ori themselves stayed in the background, just pulling strings.

After a moment of silence for their fallen comrades, Daniel shook himself out of it and nodded at the books in BD's hands. “Work for me? Tell me it's something interesting?”

Instead of an answer, BD squinted down at him. “Are those cookies?”

Daniel pulled the bag out from where it was a bit squashed between his body and the back of the couch and handed it to his older self. “Chocolate chip oatmeal. They’re Sam's, so I guess Pete made them.”

BD juggled his books and mug carefully until they were safely on the small side table. He took the bag, opened it and peered inside. “Must be good then.” He fished out a cookie and looked at it, then grimaced. “But I really don't feel like...”

“I bet Janet told you to eat and get your blood sugar up,” Daniel coaxed gently. BD looked kind of waxy to him, and there were dark circles under his eyes. Daniel wondered if his big self had trouble sleeping. He had been looking like this for a while now; haunted. Daniel remembered times like this. He knew Jack was worried.

BD sighed and took a bite. He chewed slowly as if he just remembered what it was like to eat, then nodded. “Pretty good.”

Daniel shooed the dog off the couch and made space for BD to sit beside him. He got a glimpse of the books and caught the title of the one on top. It was a blue book and what he could see lurking under the coffee mug was some sort of tribe symbol, shaman or otherwise. “Two Spirit People, Native American Gender Identity, Sexuality and Spirituality?” He raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah, it's… research,” BD said as he finished his cookie. “It’s interesting.”

Daniel removed the mug and leafed through the book. “Two Spirit – A Navajo life, Two Spirits, the story of a movement unfolds,” he read out loud. “Oh! It's for the kids! For the LGBT history class.”

BD leaned back on the couch and stretched his long legs, getting comfortable. Yet, Daniel sensed an underlying tension, a certain restlessness, barely noticeable in the way BD crossed his arms tightly over his chest. Holding himself together. Getting on with things. Shaking off the aftershocks of this morning's mission. “As you know we started with medieval Greece and Egypt. And our last subject was Rome. Now it’s native Americans.” After a short pause he added, “At least that was the plan.”

Every fortnight – if time allowed it – BD held the open history class at the Rainbow Kids Center in Colorado Springs. The very same center Daniel had donated his money to last summer. And it had paid off tenfold – the center was thriving and over time most of the critical voices had gone quiet.

BD had kept in touch with the center and started doing volunteer work there on his free Saturdays. Not that there had been many free Saturdays lately. But whenever there was a free weekend BD would take off to the center for a couple of hours.

“When did you schedule it?” Daniel asked.

“I didn't.” BD rubbed a hand over his eyes. “To be honest I don't know where to squeeze it in over the next couple of weeks.”

“Maybe tell them you need to take a break until...” Daniel trailed off, not sure how to end the sentence. _Until when? Until the Ori_ _arrive_ _? Until we surrender? Until we_ _give_ _up trying to find something, anything, to defeat them?_

He could see his own bitter thoughts reflected in BD's tired blue eyes.

But there had to be something... “There has to be something we can do to beat them,” he ground out. A part of him, a very small part, or a part that felt very small sometimes, needed to hear those words. And if no one around him felt confident enough to say them anymore, he had to say them. “Once you've found all of Merlin's runes we can solve the puzzle and figure out where and to what they are going to lead us.”

BD forced the shadow of a smile on his face, which wasn't very convincing. “Yep. Runes and riddles. Jack has all the confidence in that.”

Daniel snorted. “Jack should have learned a thing or two about how runes and riddles can save the day in the end.”

“Yay,” BD said less then enthusiastically. “Go us.”

Daniel glanced at the computer screen on his desk. He had put up enlarged photos of all the runes they had collected so far as his screensaver so that he could look at them. It was all about inspiration. Each set of runes presented them with a different element or a location.

_Snow. Mountains. Water. Fire. Under the Earth._

And each of them showed a single additional symbol, probably part of a gate address.

They had five so far. Four were still out there for them to find. More runes than a gate address would require, but hopefully there were more information on the other ones. A hint of what exactly they were looking for once they found the planet they were supposed to find.

BD followed his gaze. “Any new idea?”

Daniel sighed. “Nope. But I'm pretty sure we'll have a gate address once we've found them all.”

“Ye-ah, looks like it. I hope it won't be an eight chevron address though. Without a working ZPM that might be a real problem.”

“Yep.”

BD shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Sorry. I didn't come in here to whine.”

“Sometimes whining is the only thing we can do.” Daniel offered the cookie bag to his older version, but BD shook his head, his appetite apparently gone.

“Merlin and the sangraal were the one big hope I had to end this war.” BD shrugged. “The dragon was cool, though.”

“Daniel Jackson, conqueror of beasts.” Was it any wonder Daniel had wanted to go on that mission so badly? Caves, ancient riddles to solve, a dragon. It sounded like a Tolkien book. If their overall situation weren't so desperate, if there wasn't so much at stake here, it would have been a great adventure.

He wished there had been footage of that dragon. BD had sketched him when Daniel asked him to. A medieval beast, with wings and a swishy thorny tail. BD had also done a sketch of Merlin who had really resembled a wizard from the Arthurian legends. A bit like Gandalf, too. The historical aspect of knowing that Merlin had been an Ancient was intriguing even though it would never end up in any history book.

Daniel waved at the runes on his screen. “Merlin didn't want you to go after these runes just to keep us entertained.”

BD pursed his lips. “When we finally figured out how to get him out of stasis all he told us was that the sangraal had been destroyed long ago. And then we had to leave because the whole cave system collapsed on top of us. All I got from him was that tablet with gate addresses and the words 'runes hidden in caves'… which were actually his last words before he died.”

“He had a plan, you'll see,” Daniel said.

“I _know_ he had a plan. I just wished he'd been less cryptic about it. We're running out of time.”

“He had to be careful. He did all his work while hiding from the Ancients. He broke some pretty big rules there,” Daniel reminded Big-him.

Most of the planets on Merlin's list had been like the one where the sangraal used to be. Villages, stuck in the dark ages, medieval English time periods. Some were populated, some had been abandoned a long time ago.

All the runes they had found so far had been deeply carved in cave walls, and then liquid naquadah had been poured into the molds. Those runes lit up when touched or exposed to light, so it was relatively easy to find them.

Deciphering each of them hadn't been too hard either.

It was like a treasure hunt strewn at large all over the galaxy.

BD patted his shoulder, his voice forced confidence. “If nothing else, we still have Sam's new toy.”

“She's more confident about the anti-prior-gun than Bill,” Daniel said. “That means it's gonna work. I wouldn't be so sure if it was the other way around.”

BD grinned. “I like the way you think.”

Daniel pointed at the books on the side table. “So… why did you come in here if not to whine and eat my cookies?”

BD picked up his coffee mug again and took a sip. “I talked to some of the volunteer workers at the center and found someone who would take over that history class. They want me to do it, but if I really have to quit...”

Maybe the fact BD hadn't quit his work there yet meant he wasn't as defeated as he seemed to be. Daniel liked that thought a lot.

“Gina, one of the other volunteers, is going to do some reading and needs these books to prepare herself. But...” BD gave him a questioning look.

Daniel blinked, suddenly alerted. “What?”

“She could use a little help from someone who's good with history and knows a thing or two about power point presentations and how to entertain a bunch of kids. You've done briefings with a room full of bored military guys. Hey, you get Jack to listen to you. You'd be the perfect assistant for Gina.”

“I.. what?”

“Look, I don't know when I'll be available again for any length of time and several kids have already signed up for this.” A knowing little smile crinkled Big Daniel's eyes. “Tara is going to be there, she was one of the first kids who signed up.”

Daniel frowned. “And? So?”

“I'm just saying…”

“Daniel, _please_.”

BD raised his hands. “You taught her yo-yo tricks. I thought you liked her.”

“Tara barely knows who I am. She's 14, she thinks I'm a kindergarten kid.” Daniel thought that was highly amusing and sniggered. At the same time it was also very depressing and he couldn't suppress the sigh escaping him when the short flare of hilarity had passed.

“Ouch,” BD winced.

“I can't just walk in there and do this. Hello, I'm 12. Almost. I'm not a teacher.”

“Since when do you consider yourself to be 12? Almost?” BD raised his eyebrows in pretended shock.

“To them I am. Just forget it, I won't do it.”

“Daniel, relax. I'm not asking you to take over for me. Gina will be fine, she just needs a little support, that's all. It was just a suggestion,” BD said calmly. “No strings, no obligation, you know that.”

“Then stop trying to coax me into this, okay? Just… don't.”

BD gave him a long look. “I asked you because I'd appreciate the help. I don't want to _coax_ you into anything.”

Daniel felt the heat rise in his cheeks. He didn't know why it was such a sore point, but he hated those gentle nudges his therapist, Doctor Murphy, kept giving him from time to time. To visit some of the classes, to take a look at the other workshops, to see if he might like it. It was never in his face and never voiced as something that was required of him. It was just hinted at him every once in a while, very subtle. But Daniel didn't go to the center to spend time with other kids ‘his age’.

They weren’t his age. Doc Murphy knew that all too well, but he was his shrink, he had weird ideas and Daniel could live with that.

But BD, of all people, should understand this. He had grown up being always at odds with 'kids his age'. And that he suddenly wanted to push Daniel in a direction he didn't want to go wasn't just annoying.

It hurt.

And yet… and yet, he felt drawn to the place way more than he was willing to admit. Doctor Murphy worked part time as the center's counselor together with two other therapists. Lately Daniel had started looking forward to those occasions when he had to meet the doc at the center instead of his regular office.

Sometimes when he had to wait because Murphy's previous appointment took longer than expected he watched the kids at the small skate area outside.

And he did _not_ do that because Tara was one of the skater kids. He liked watching them doing their tricks, period.

He usually just observed what was going on but a couple months ago, in spring, Tara had seen him playing with his yoyo while he'd been waiting for Doc Murphy to be ready for him. She had asked him to show her some moves.

That had been cool, but it didn't mean he wanted to hang out there more often.

And he should never have mentioned Tara and the yo-yo to BD.

“Okay,” BD said finally. “I'm sure Gina will handle it.”

Daniel resisted the urge to apologize for his outburst. “I'm sure she'll be fine.”

“Yeah.”

The phone on Daniel's desk rang and he waved at BD. “It's for you.”

“How do you...”

“It sounds urgent.”

“You can't possibly hear that from the way it rings,” BD snorted, but got up and answered it anyway. “'lo? Yeah, it's me.” He listened and frowned. “Okay, I'm… yes, Jack, I'm on my way _right now_.”

“See? Knew it was for you,” Daniel said. “No one wants anything from me anymore unless it's some boring translation.” Then he sat up, alerted by the look on BD's face. “What? What happened?”

“I'm not sure, actually,” BD said slowly as he put the phone down. “Bra'tac is here and he claims Gerak has lost his mind.”

Gerak was the head of the Free Jaffa Nation. Whatever was going on, it couldn't be good.

“Gotta go,” BD murmured, already on his way out. At the door he stopped, “Hey, can you take those books to the center this afternoon and put them on the bookshelf in my room? It's reading material for Gina. I'll text her so she can pick them up when she comes in.”

“Sure, no problem.” Daniel watched BD leave and slouched back on the couch torn between the urge to sulk because he felt so damn surplus and worried – a state of mind he had gotten quite used to over the last couple of months.

* * *

Daniel found Jack sitting at the head of the briefing room table, tapping his long fingers on an empty note pad. Bra'tac stood at the large window overlooking the gate room. Teal'c was pacing the space between table and door like a caged tiger.

“What now?” Daniel slid into a chair.

“Now,” Jack drawled, “we have a Jaffa leader gone mad on our hands. Never a dull moment, eh?”

“Define 'gone mad'?”

“Bonkers, waco, three fries short of a happy meal… that enough defining for ya?” But even Jack's usual sarcasm seemed to have lost its bite today.

“Gerak has proposed that the religion of the Ori should be adopted by all Jaffa.” Bra'tac turned away from the window, crossed the room and sat down heavily opposite Daniel.

“As law,” Teal'c seethed. “To be taught to our children. Its benedictions and traditions followed to the letter. Should it be ratified by the council, all Jaffa would have no choice but to accept the Ori as gods.” He clasped his hands at his back and stood rigid, his face stoic but his eyes burning with rage.

Daniel fought down the need to ask if this was a joke. A bad one. But surely this couldn't be true? He forced his mind to deal with the most important question first. “The Ori have arrived on Dakara? Or Chulak? There are priors there?”

“No. Not yet.” Bra'tac shook his head. Daniel noticed how exhausted he looked. How old. _He looks exactly the way I feel_. “Gerak has returned from another free Jaffa world. While he was there a prior visited the main city and handed out the Book of Origin to everyone, talked to the people about salvation and enlightenment.”

“And Gerak decided this is 'it'?” Daniel couldn't believe this.

Bra'tac looked like he had a foul taste in his mouth. “So it appears,” he spat. “That prior also told Gerak that Utegah, a world with minor Jaffa population has been turned and the people had chosen enlightenment with open arms.”

“That explains why the Ori hand out staffs to their followers now,” Jack threw in.

“No, it does not.” Bra'tac shot Jack a sharp look. “Utegah is a minor world. No weapon production there. Boys born there used to leave after their prim'ta ceremony to be trained in camps on other worlds. Utegah is mostly farmland. What is this you speak off?”

“The Ori arm their turned worlds,” Daniel explained. “This morning we were ambushed by an army of villagers carrying staffs and zats.”

“And they were not Jaffa?”

“No. But they were trained well.”

“Which begs the question...” Jack started.

“...who trained them. And where is their source for weapons,” Daniel finished.

Bra'tac blanched visibly. “We have a traitor in our midst.”

Teal'c put a calming hand on his old friend's arm. “So it appears. But sometimes appearances are deceptive.”

“What other explanation is there? The priors would not know how to train anyone Jaffa style.”

Daniel pinched the bridge of his nose. Was there a connection between Gerak's change of heart and this new development on Ori turned planets? All they could do now was focus on the more pressing matter. “Okay, so… what's the council saying to all this? Gerak can't decide this alone.”

“That is my hope as well,” Teal'c said. “True belief cannot be legislated. Surely the council must know this is beyond their purview.”

Bra'tac didn't look very optimistic. “Gerak seems to have swayed many. He is convinced that the Ori represent the true gods we have all sought for generations, and that only by worshiping them can we finally find enlightenment.”

“Nuts,” Jack muttered.

“If he really believes that he is a fool and must be revealed as such,” Teal'c said.

“That was my first assessment, but even if he has lost his mind, he has already poisoned other Jaffa's minds. And this is at least partly our fault as well.” The old Jaffa master turned his dark eyes on Teal'c. “Because of us, too many Jaffa now know that the Ancients of this galaxy will never offer us a quick path to ascension.”

“Which is a pretty hard blow to the Jaffa belief system,” Daniel threw in.

Bra'tac nodded. “Gerak is old, as are many members of the council. For them, the Ori represent hope for life beyond that which we now know. For that reason alone, this proposal will carry weight.”

“Did you try to reason with him?” Daniel couldn't believe this was happening. After all those years of enslavement by the Goa'uld and all the struggles and battles to get rid of the false gods… now this?

“I did. But he would not listen. There is another council meeting this afternoon and he will make his request officially known then,” Bra'tac said darkly.

“I will not stand by and let this happen,” Teal'c ground out.

“That is why I am here. To have you by my side, Teal'c. And you as well, Daniel.”

“Me? But I'm not Jaffa, I'm not sure anyone is going to listen to me.”

“But you have studied the Ori and you are at the front line of warriors who fight them. You have been to their home world and seen their true evilness.”

“And yet, if ascension is the Jaffa's greatest motivation for joining the Ori, any reasoning will fall on deaf ears because that's exactly what they do; they ascend people,” Daniel said grimly.

“It's blackmail,” Jack snapped. “Live to worship them or die. What kind of price is that to pay for a ticket to the glowy club?”

“A price too high,” Teal'c said gravely.

“Ye-ah. Let's hope we can make Gerak see that, too,” Daniel said.

Jack pushed his chair back and stood. “Do your worst.”

Teal'c and Bra'tac left immediately and Daniel waited until he was sure they were out of earshot before he turned to Jack. “Is there any news on Sam's anti-prior gun?”

“They're close to finishing the design of the prototype… theoretically. On paper, the drawing board...”

“As soon as it's done we need to test it. And until then, maybe I should tell the council about it.”

“It hasn't been _built_ yet. We are far from testing anything.”

“But it might help the council to make a decision if they knew we could prove the Ori are no gods.”

“Or - not.” Jack cautioned.

“At least let me tell them we're on to something to prove Gerak wrong.”

Jack's left eyebrow wandered upwards. “We are?”

“It's only a matter of time. Then, when it's finished we're going to test it...”

Jack's eyes narrowed. “You know damn well how I feel about the whole 'let's go and hunt down a prior to see if it works' idea.”

Daniel suppressed a sigh. They had been around this BBQ a couple of times over the last week. “We have to test it. And in order to test it we need a prior. I doubt we'll be able to find one to happily volunteer.”

“And until Carter isn't at least 80% positive it will work I'm not gonna risk anyone's life...”

“I told you I'll do it.”

“The hell you will.”

“Jack...”

Jack waved him off brusquely. “Go. Talk. Do your thing. No prior gun tales though.”

They both knew this discussion wasn't over, but for now Daniel had a mission to prepare for.

  



	2. Rainbow Warriors - Chapter II

**II**

 

General Jack O'Neill watched Daniel's retreating back and turned smartly, heading into his office to make phone calls. This whole red-tape thing side of his job still annoyed him on any good day and he was known to complain about it to anyone who was willing to listen – and to anyone who wasn't. But today even that annoyance was muted by the one thing that annoyed him even more.

Carter and her anti-prior-gun. Or, more precisely, the fact that it had to be tested on a living prior. And the even more pressing fact that Daniel insisted on being part of that mission.

Jack made his call to the IOA, playing a round of verbal sparring with Woolsey about how much of a disaster it would be if Dakara fell into Ori hands and if the SGC should really waste resources and men to come to Dakara's aid if push came to shove. Sometimes he felt he deserved a medal for not killing Woolsey. That man was the embodiment of a pencil pusher if Jack had ever met one.

After spending the morning talking to the families of SG-17 and Lt. Winter, Woolsey's ongoing whining and worrying was the last thing Jack wanted to hear.

He had just slammed the receiver down, when Little D slipped through the open office door, followed by his shadow, Flyboy.

“Oh, good, you're not Walter,” Jack greeted him with a crooked grin. The dog came around to try and push his head into Jack's lap.

“No, but Walter sent me to ask you...”

“Aht!” Jack raised a finger. “Whatever it is...”

“Just kidding.” LD dropped his backpack on the visitor's chair. He was in civies, wearing a denim jacket over a baggy t-shirt featuring the blue graffiti of a skateboard. “I haven't seen Walter all day.” Lowering his voice, he added, “But he's probably very close...”

Jack grabbed a paperclip and threw it at the grinning preteen. “NOT funny.”

LD dodged the paperclip with youthful grace. “I'm off to my appointment with Doc Murphy. I asked Josh to take me to the center and back again when I'm done.”

Jack checked his watch. “He can drop you off at home and you take your bike to the center. You could take the afternoon off, get some fresh air, do normal things...”

“Normal things?” LD asked with a subtle roll of his eyes. Eyes with dark circles underneath. Eyes of a man, not of an 11 year old.

“Yeah. You could call Al...”

“Al is at summer camp. Some gaming event.”

“Gaming? I thought summer camps were about campfires, s'mores, hiking and swimming.”

“Some are. And some aren't.” LD shrugged. “I gotta go. Josh is probably already waiting.”

“Wait.” Jack pursed his lips as he had another good look at his kid. There was gloom, a subtle air of it. “Did BD tell you about...”

“SG-17 and Marc Winter? Yes.” The boy wrapped his arms around himself, then dropped them and stuffed his hands into the pocket of his jeans instead. The simple gesture made Jack's heart clench. Trying so hard to take it like the man he was supposed to be. _The man he_ thinks _he's supposed to be even after all these years._

Daniel asked, “Did you call their families?”

“Yeah.”

“Marc has a little sister. Her name is Marie. She was named after Marie Curie. He once said she'd get a kick out of working at the SGC, she's interested in all things science. He said he'd recommend her to the program if she excels in quantum physics or something like that, he was so proud of her.” Daniel said, his voice as flat as BD's had been this morning.

“You could come to his memorial service if you like,” Jack offered.

“I think I'd like that. But what if his family asks weird questions? About who I am, what I'm doing there?”

“We'll think of something, don't worry about it. I'll talk to his uncle Frank. He knows who you are, sort off.”

“Frank?”

“Major Billox. He was Marc's uncle.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks.”

Jack fought the need to get up and pull his son into a hug. The times where hugs and cuddles had been a craving for Daniel's little-boy side had been gone for a while now. But, damn, his kid needed a break.

Instead he finally gave in to the dog and pushed away from his desk to rub behind those pointed ears. “Take the afternoon, Daniel.”

LD naturally didn't react to that. Instead he moved on to the next subject. “What's going on with Gerak? BD said he's lost his mind or something?”

Sometimes Jack wished Daniel had decided to go back to high school and be a 'normal' kid instead of staying at the SGC and being so well informed about everything. But that ship had sailed a long time ago and there was no point in trying to gloss over the truth.

“Gerak thinks he's found enlightenment in the Book of Origin.”

LD's blue eyes widened. “What?”

“Yep, that's what _I_ said.”

“Dakara is now a monument of victory over the Goa'uld. The Jaffa's whole established new order might break apart if they lose their main capitol.”

“I know.” Jack had basically told Woolsey the very same thing. In shorter terms and more colorful words. “I sent Daniel, T. and Bra'tac to talk to the council.”

Earth had established relationships with many planets over the years. Some they traded with, some they allied with, some they had protected and saved from the Goa'uld. Too many of those planets had been lost to the Ori over the last year. Either because of surrender or because of mass destruction. The Earth Jaffa alliance was the most promising tool in this unbalanced war. However, moments of victory were overshadowed by one back step after another, so their chances weren't so great in the first place…

But if Gerak sold his people out to the Ori and Dakara fell, Earth would probably be next.

“Good luck,” LD muttered. “Let's hope Sam and Bill can get the anti-prior gun to work.”

“Ye-ah,” Jack drawled and scrubbed a hand through his short mostly-silver hair.

LD gave him a long look. “Someone has to test it on a prior.”

“I haven't given the green light for that yet.”

“Because it's not ready.”

“That, and because we have no guarantee it's gonna work.”

“Well, that's why you're going to test it, right?”

Jack tried not to gnash his teeth. “Right.”

“What other choice is there?” LD opened his backpack.

“We still have those runes and riddles...”

“Which, right now, are nothing more than a bunch of runes and riddles,” the kid said quietly. “Sam and Bill are at least working on something that seems doable. Maybe.”

Jack grimaced. “Daniel thinks he's the one who should test it. Because he's talked to the Ori, been to their home planet… he knows what makes those priors tick.”

“He knows all about their belief system. He could probably distract the prior long enough for Sam to test the device on him. The priors seem to be happy to talk about Origin from what I heard.” The boy gave Jack a one shoulder shrug. “I could do it, too, of course. It would be a nice opportunity to discuss the Book of Origin with an expert.”

“Over my dead body,” Jack snapped.

“Kidding,” LD said with a smirk, but Jack knew better. If Daniel had his way he'd be on the front line and in the middle of the action. Jack couldn't keep Daniel from doing his job and working far longer hours than he was supposed to. He couldn't keep him from having his sources to be up to date even on things Jack chose not to tell him. But the one thing Jack could do was keep the kid earth side and out of the line of fire and that wasn't open for negotiation.

“Can you watch Flyboy?” Daniel pulled an old shabby blanket from his pack. It had seen much better days, but was the dog's favorite.

“If you'd take the rest of the day off you could take him...”

“I'll be back.”

Jack rolled his eyes, but was well aware the kid wouldn't back down on this. “We'll let you know what's going on tonight,” he tried anyway.

Daniel tossed the blanket over the backrest of the visitor chair. “I just want to be here when they return.”

They exchanged a long look over the desk. Jack _knew_ he should put his foot down and order Daniel to stay home the rest of the day. Their work schedule and the constant pressure of the overall situation already showed. There was a subtle backslide in old behavior patterns Jack needed to deal with before it became a real issue again. But he couldn't blame the kid for wanting to be here and kept in the loop.

“Yeah, okay. Maybe the dog can eat my paperwork.”

So he caved. But he'd make sure at least this Daniel would get a day of leave soon.

Daniel released a breath and a crooked smile appeared on his face. “Well, at least, _IF_ it comes to the worst, BD and I are fluent in all things Origin. We might even become the head honcho priors once they get here.”

Sometimes humor was the only way to go.

“Get outta my hair,” Jack grumbled. “And text me if you're not coming back in. You really should take the rest of the day off. You're holed up in here way too much lately.” Hope springs eternal they said...

“Aren't we all,” LD murmured as he walked out the door.

“Yeah,” Jack said to the empty room.

It was one of those days. Weeks. Months.

* * *

Sgt Josh Berenger was a tall bulky guy, he looked like a body guard or a jarhead, but was actually an airman who had been assigned to be LD's driver for the time being.

They met at the elevators. Josh was always on time.

“Where too, Lord D.?” His faked Oxford accent was spot on and never failed to amuse Daniel even when he wasn't in a good mood.

“Florida,” Daniel decided. “The beach, the ocean, my private yacht.”

“Not Egypt this time?” Josh sounded disappointed. “You know the car has hyperdrive. You could be there like this,” he snapped his fingers, “and back home in time for dinner.”

“Maybe tomorrow. Or to my private dig site in Mexico. Oh, and I hope the champagne is on ice.”

Josh indicated a small bow, “As always, sire. Do you wish me to serve it in golden goblets?”

“I insist.”

“Very well.”

Daniel laughed and Josh gave him a smug look. He claimed it was his mission to get Daniel to loosen up and take life less seriously. Daniel sensed a channeling of Jack there, but he didn't mind. Their banter was light and easy and even today it lifted his mood at least for the moment.

The elevator arrived and on their way down Josh switched back to his normal voice. “Let me guess. Library? Home? Rainbow Center?”

“Center. I need an hour there, give or take fifteen minutes. Can you wait or are you on a schedule?”

“I can wait, no problem.”

“Cool, thanks. Jack wants me to take the afternoon off, but I have work to do.”

“Places to be, people to meet?”

“Yep. All of that.”

“Can't blame the general for trying, though.”

Daniel sighed. “No, I guess not. He means well.”

For some reason Josh chuckled softly and shook his head, but refrained from commenting.

Once they had passed the last checkpoint and stepped out into the bright sunlight Daniel's thoughts turned to Dakara. His stomach lurched in anxious anticipation. He wished he was there to see things unfold. He was always on the sidelines now. Sure, he still attended briefings and he still worked as part of the team for mission prep and research. But he felt like he should be able to do more.

And then again he remembered how being the carrier of Oma's 'gift' – the knowledge of how to save the world and defeat Anubis – had weighed him down, had drained him physically and mentally to the point of total exhaustion and how he had ended up almost dead on Atlantis.

Sometimes he wondered if his choice to stay 'little' had been a plea to the universe for a break. To live a normal life – as normal as life could get in his case – where he didn't have to feel he had to save lives, the planet, the galaxy, whatever.

_Then why are you willing to open that can of worms again by trying to get Ayiana to talk to you?_

Because this feeling of responsibility was much harder to shake than he'd thought it would be.

He should probably talk to Gavin about this at some point.

Maybe.

Today he knew what they were going to talk about; dead people.

* * *

Millions of years ago, when the Ancients had still resided on Dakara it might have been a thriving, lush and fertile world. Now Dakara was mostly barren, burnt earth, red rocks and windswept derelict ruins. The humanoid statue, built from those red rocks, throned above all those ruins. The entrance to the temple was located at its feet.

As they crossed the courtyard where the gate was located, BD couldn't help but marvel a little at this place and its long, often dark and cruel, history.

The wind brushing around the rough edges of rock was whispering of myths from a time when the Ancients had built the giant statue. It had been silent witness to the Ancient's rise and fall, it had withstood time and weather and still been here when the Goa'uld had claimed Dakara. In this temple the very first symbiote ceremony had taken place and the sarcophagus had been used for the very first time by Anubis in these halls The Goa'uld's status as gods to the Jaffa had been established on Dakara and now this world represented the victory of the first generation of the Free Jaffa Nation.

The heavy doors stood open but, just like Dakara's stargate, were guarded by two grim looking Jaffa who now stepped aside to let them pass. They acknowledged Teal'c's and Bra'tac's presence with a respectful bow of their heads and ignored Daniel completely which compelled him to give them a wide smile with bared teeth and a cheerful, “Hey, guys!” as they passed.

Their footsteps echoed on the stone slabs. Lit torches on the walls drew bizarre shadows in corners and on the ceiling. Temple walls. Daniel had seen all kinds of them over the years. Walls covered in rich colorful paintings, walls without any sign of decoration, dirt encrusted walls, walls covered in lichen and ivy, walls adorned with artful carvings. All of them telling different stories with the same context. Gods. Worship. Rise and fall, fertility and destruction, many sacrifices and few rewards.

The temple halls of Dakara, unpretentious but with the air of a place that had seen many momentous events, were occupied by council members standing together in small groups, talking in hushed voices.

Teal'c excused himself and went to greet a woman clad in dusty blue robes. She wore the mark of Moloc and the headpiece of a priestess. Kal'lel used to belong to the female Jaffa resistance called Hak'tyl which had served the cause of rescuing adolescent girls from being slaughtered by Moloc. She was close to Ishta, Teal'c's partner.

“Teal'c hasn't seen Ishta in a while,” Bra'tac observed. “I hope Ka'lel has news for him. I have not heard from her either.”

“I thought she and the girls had settled on Chulak, close to Rya'c and Kar'yn.”

“She had, but you know Ishta. Her thirst for battle is great indeed. She has left Chulak to be on one of the ships patrolling the galaxy for supergates.” Bra'tac's face hardened. “We have already lost so many in the fight with the Ori.”

“If Gerak proposes to ally with the Ori all those deaths will have been in vain.” Teal'c had returned and lowered his voice. “Ka'lel sides with us, but she cannot overrule the will of the council. However, she will make sure no proposal passes today.”

“That'll buy us time if nothing else,” Daniel murmured.

“Have you heard news from Ishta?” Bra'tac asked.

Teal'c bowed his head. “Indeed. She is well, but impatient.” Pride laced his voice when he continued. “Ishta would never surrender to the Ori.”

Bra'tac nodded. “Maybe we will need her and as many as she can gather together as our allies out there, soon.”

“Are you talking about a resistance, or a civil war?” Daniel lowered his voice to a whisper. “Let's hope it won't come to that.”

Bra'tac cleared his throat. “There is Gerak.”

The current leader of the Free Jaffa Nation rounded a corner, his gray robes billowing with every vibrant step. He opened his arms in a welcoming gesture as soon as he spotted them. “Bra'tac, old friend! Teal'c! You are here to hear me speak to the council today.” His dark eyes flitted to Daniel and for the fraction of a second his smile faltered, but was firmly back in place again right away. “Doctor Jackson. It is unusual for an… for someone who is not Jaffa to attend our meetings.”

“The Tau'ri are our most loyal allies.” Bra'tac stood rigid.

“Of course you are welcome to join us,” Gerak offered, a nuance less brightly.

“We wish to speak to you first,” Teal'c said quietly.

“Ah, I see. I'm afraid that is not possible. The meeting starts now. Come this way.” Gerak turned on his heel and led them down the corridor and into the great hall, a rotunda with no furniture except for the two semicircular tables and twelve empty chairs, six at each table.

Gerak strode across the room to the podium set up in the circular space between both tables and pulled a book from the folds of his robe. Daniel noticed how one of his gnarled hands brushed over the cover in an almost tender gesture.

“Odd choice of reading material,” he said, raising his eyebrows. He was aware it wasn't the most diplomatic thing to say. But the mere concept of Gerak proposing Origin to his fellow Jaffa was so outrageous.

Gerak kept stroking the book's cover. “I do not understand.”

“The Book of Origin. It stands against everything the Jaffa have fought for so long.” Daniel's eyes never left Gerak's weathered face. The man's features were a mask of calm.

“Gerak, you must not bring Origin to Dakara,” Bra'tac said fiercely.

Gerak raised a ringed finger. “The meeting is about to begin, brother. Please take your seats.”

Jaffa milled in, wearing plain gray or white robes. Bra'tac had been right; most of the council members were old men and women, probably Bra'tac's age or even older. Daniel had a bad feeling about this.

* * *

The Rainbow Center was a total contrast to the mountain. Whenever Daniel came here straight from the SGC it felt a little bit like stepping through the gate into a bright colorful world. There were windows everywhere, all the rooms with their brilliant painted walls were sun-drenched and even when the weather was dull, the center still seemed to be a place of light.

It was also a beehive of activity this time of year. Schools were closed for the summer and hordes of kids were spending their days at the center. Daniel crossed the large entry hall and headed to the message board to figure out where BD's history class usually took place. He passed a couple of boys who stood in a circle, sticking their heads together over a Nintendo, cheering over some game. Two girls and a third teenager who could have been also a girl, but who knew what was hidden under all that long purple hair, hung their jackets on one of the cloak racks and headed to the Rainbow Cafè at the back of the ground level. Daniel had heard they served homemade cookies and pastries there, sometimes waffles. And going by the smell of vanilla and cinnamon wafting through the hall, whatever they served had to be delicious.

He knew that lots of kids around here had their own problems. And yet, this mix of colors, activity and the scent of freshly baked goodies seemed like the most peaceful place on Earth to him. He didn't know when he had started to feel comfortable here.

He just did. Even though he would never admit that to anyone but himself. And why would he? He couldn't be part of this… normality. He didn't have time to hang out here, period.

But it was tempting sometimes, to just come here and stay for a while.

No one here was aware of the looming threat from outer space. And the center people tried to create an atmosphere of home and belonging for everyone who came in and sought help or distraction.

He rarely ever got noticed by most of the kids anyway because he mostly just came to see Doc Murphy. But one time he had accidentally run into a workshop for paint-on tattoo design taking place in the entry hall because all the rooms had been booked that day. He'd been invited to join and had – reluctantly at first spent an hour drawing dragons and hieroglyphs on paper. It had been fun and he had considered coming back the next day to learn how to put his design on waterslide paper, but then he'd been working long hours the next day and forgot all about the workshop until much later when there had been a display of tattoo-designs exhibited in one of the large glass cases by the main entrance.

He checked the list of activities on the message board and found the ongoing classes. He couldn't find Daniel's name on the list, but a note about a sign up for history class being held by Gina in room 7 A – and that the date had yet to be announced. Six names were already on that list. One of them was Tara Billox, written in flowing red letters. Girly letters.

“Are you signing up for history class?”

Daniel almost jumped, but managed not to. He turned around and was face to face with Tara. “Hi. Uh, no. Daniel, my uncle… he asked me to drop a couple books in his room.”

“Someone said Gina is gonna take over for him. Why?”

“Um, he works a lot right now,” Daniel murmured.

“Is he going on a dig?” Tara sounded mildly interested.

“Uh, I don't know, sorry.”

“Oh, right, he's working for the Air Force now. No more digs. That's a shame.” She blew her long bangs out of her face. Her hair was the wildest kind he had ever seen on a human girl. It always looked as if she had put her hand into a socket. It reminded him of the Nox. Maybe that's why he had liked her at first sight when he'd met her last summer.

But as usual, his eyes were drawn to her pierced left eyebrow. Today it was a small silver heart. He blinked quickly when she asked, “You know where the room is?”

“I have the room number… It's 7A.”

“C'mon, I'll take you.” She reached into the pocket of her skinny jeans, pulled out a strip of strawberry gum and held it out to him.

Daniel hated strawberry gum.

“Thanks.” He took it and looked at it, then shrugged and unwrapped it. As soon as he had popped it into his mouth he wished he hadn't. The sweet explosion of strawberry almost made him gag. But he chewed bravely as they trudged up the stairs to the first level. After a moment the strawberry flavor was gone. Now it only tasted like sugar.

“Daniel's your uncle?”

“Yeah.”

“Is he gay?”

Her question hit him so totally out of the blue, he almost choked on his gum. “Wha… what?”

Tara shrugged, a small flirt of her shoulders. “Saw him in town a couple weeks ago. He was with a guy. Military guy. Bit old, but hot. They weren't making out or anything, just came out of that Italian place with pizza boxes.”

“How'd you know? That he was military, I mean.” Daniel followed her around a corner and then they were standing in front of room 7A.

“I know the type. All the guys in my family are military.”

“Your dad, too?” Distraction was his best defense.

“Oh yeah.” She pushed the door open. “He is at Cheyenne Mountain.”

That wasn't a surprise. Colorado Springs was a military town. Lots of people here worked at the mountain or the Air Force academy.

“Cool,” Daniel said lightly.

Tara shrugged again. “Nah. Your uncle is pretty cool though. For a geek.”

He snorted. “I'm sure he'd take that as a compliment. The guy you saw him with was probably my dad. My foster dad. And yes, he's military, too.”

“Oh, okay. Doctor J. knows a lot of stuff, but he's not boring like the teachers in school. He said he was in Egypt and in Greece on real dig sites. And he studied in Chicago.”

“And LA,” Daniel added.

“See? Cool.”

Before he could hold himself back, he blurted out. “I've been to Egypt, too.”

She turned her green eyes on him with new interest. “Why?”

“Uh, my parents lived there. Before they died. And Daniel worked there for a while. When he was still, you know, digging up artifacts.”

She looked at him and he waited for that typical softening of eyes or the blush creeping into her face. It was how most people reacted when they heard of the death of his parents.. Her eyes did soften, but she didn't say any of the awkward things like “I'm sorry about your parents,” or “Oh my god, they are dead?” She just asked, “Did you see those huge pyramids?”

“Yes. And tombs. There are lots of sites you can get a guided tour for today.”

“Guided tours are boring. Places no freaking tourists have ever been to are the best. Like abandoned places. My brother and my cousin used to visit abandoned places and take pics of 'em. Sometimes they took me along.” Tara pushed the door to 7A open and walked in.

“Abandoned places?” He was intrigued. He put his backpack on one of the tables, opened it and retrieved the books. “Like ghost towns?”

“Yeah. And old mines.” She looked over his shoulder as he started putting the books on a shelf by the door. “Ohhh… Two Spirits.” She snatched “Two Spirit – A Navajo Life” from his hands, her ruby red colored nails brushing against his fingertips.

“There are sacred places up in the mountains. From the Arapaho and the Cheyenne.”

“Abandoned places?” Daniel guessed.

“Some are still used and some are for tourists. But some are really hidden and probably forgotten or just no longer used.”

A flutter of excitement suddenly rose in his chest like a tiny bird. He could look them up on the net and talk Jack and BD into taking an excursion to a sacred place. Or an abandoned mine, a ghost town… they could take pictures. He and BD could do a bit of digging, see if they might find something interesting no tourist would know how to look for. It would be fun.

Except there wasn't much time for fun right now. He buried the idea before it could really start to settle as something he totally wanted to do. Maybe next year. Maybe when all this Ori stuff was over.

He checked his watch. “I have an appointment with Doc Murphy, so I have to...” He waved in the general direction of the door.

“Okay. I'll see you 'round.” She was leafing through the book reading here and there, frantically chewing her gum, her eyes glued to the pages. “D'you think Doctor J would let me borrow this 'til next class?”

Daniel had no idea when the next class was supposed to take place and BD had said the books were for the mysterious Gina to prep for class. Then again, there were several books. He shrugged. “Sure, why not. Just keep it clean and whole.”

“Books are sacred to him, I know.” She slithered on one of the chairs without taking her eyes off the book.

Daniel felt dismissed and slipped out the door.

There was a bin in the hallway and he finally got rid of the strawberry gum, but the taste lingered and stayed with him when he knocked at Doc Murphy's office door.

* * *

“The Ori have already destroyed two worlds with Jaffa population. Think of Kallana. How can you even consider bringing that kind of destruction and devastation to Dakara?” Bra'tac rose from his seat and thrust out his arm in an all encompassing gesture. “All this will be lost. All our history will be gone, erased as if it has never existed.”

A murmur of approval or disagreement arose, Daniel wasn't sure which. Gerak, tall and the embodiment of strength, shook his head. “Our history, our legacy, will not be erased. A new era will rise. Kallana refused to see reason and had to pay for that. And this is exactly why we must embrace the Ori on Dakara. If the Jaffa at Kallana had listened to the wisdom of the priors, they'd all still be alive today. Don't you see that?”

Bra'tac shook his head. “The Jaffa at Kallana were defending themselves against a military incursion.”

Gerak held up the book for everyone to see. “Their offer is the wisdom of the ages and everlasting life, and Kallana met that with force. Were the actions of the Ori not justified?”

Daniel, who had seen what the Ori were capable off – how they swept across the galaxy like a plague, forcing world after world to either live by their book or be destroyed – was still trying to get his head around the fact that Gerak dismissed all that as 'justified actions'.

“Thousands of lives were lost. On Kallana, on any world that even remotely refused to follow Origin. How is that 'justified'?” He looked at Gerak, but he hoped his words reached all members of the council. “Your own people are out there, disabling supergates, engaging in battles with Ori ships – by letting the Ori in here you are betraying all those who fight them.”

Gerak's smile was that of a grandfather trying to reason with a small child. “They will forgive those who have taken the wrong path. We are like children to them. Children have to be taught and guided.”

Bra'tac spat, “If you are suggesting we have no other choice but to acquiesce, that would be cowardice.”

 _And when they come and you fight them, you'll all die._ They all knew this and there was no point in saying it out loud. There was probably not a single Jaffa who lived in fear of death. But if Gerak could convince them that dying was in vain or even an act of sin if they tried to engage in war with those who promised the one thing the Jaffa longed for when faced with death...

Daniel realized how personal freedom could suddenly take a backseat in the light of offered ascension.

Gerak stepped off the podium and approached Bra'tac. “Old friend, you and I have seen much injustice. We have fought many battles. With your and Teal'c's help, and,” he turned his dark eyes on Daniel, “with the help of the Tau'ri as well, we have gained so much. We need you now. To be at our side when we enter the final stage of our journey to enlightenment.”

“Gerak!” Teal'c's voice, like thunder in the high vaulted hall, made every head turn towards him. “You cannot!”

Gerak did not flinch, nor did he act as if he felt challenged. Either he was so totally convinced of what he believed or, and Daniel began to wonder if that was actually the truth, his mind had already been altered by the Ori somehow.

“I believe their intentions are pure. They offer us enlightenment, knowledge, salvation. All of these things can be ours, IF we have the courage to embrace our destiny.”

Again, a chorus of murmurs rose and this time Daniel noticed several nods of approval.

This was his cue.

He stood and cleared his throat. “Before a proposal is officially made, please hear me out.”

Gerak crossed his arms over his chest. A deep frown broke through his mask of calm. For the first time since the meeting had started he seemed to feel uneasy. “I do not believe...”

“Let him speak, Gerak!” Ka'lel's clear voice cut through the air which was now thickening with tension. She was probably the youngest of the council, but her status as a former high priestess and her skills as a warrior had earned her the respect of the elders.

No one objected.

After a nod of thanks to Ka'lel, Daniel strode over to the podium. For a moment it looked as if Gerak wouldn't step aside, but finally he composed himself once more and made space.

“I know the Ori offer entry to the higher plane of existence. Ascension. The afterlife you all believe in. It's an intriguing offer, I admit. But does it still hold the same value if it comes with a price too high to pay? You are warriors, you are free now. You fight with honor and ascension is the reward for a long life well lived – by doing the right thing and working hard towards this goal, not by blindly worshiping gods who will send you out there to destroy in their name everyone who doesn't do their bidding. How is that in any way different from what the Goa'uld did? Enlightenment is a wonderful thing, but everyone has to decide for themselves if that's what they want and seek. No one can be FORCED to be enlightened.”

“If what Gerak says is the truth and the Ori see us as children, they only have our best in mind,” someone threw in. A chorus of “Yes” and “Of course” arose, but also a couple of negative voices.

Daniel shook his head. “Any parent who loves their children only wants their best, but we don't slaughter our children if they don't function the way we want them to.”

Ka'lel stood again and the room quieted. “We have no real means to defeat them either way, Daniel. If we embrace their offerings we would stay alive and gain ascension when our life on this plane comes to an end, would we not? I am merely pointing out the options here. I am not in favor of Gerak's proposal – yet.”

“Okay, what… what if there WAS a way to defeat them? Or at least a way of diminishing their power.”

“There is no such thing!” Gerak barked out.

“YES! There is! Or, there will be. We are working on something.”

Teal'c raised one questioning eyebrow. “Is this something we should reveal at this point?”

Daniel shrugged. “Now is as good as ever.” That wasn't true and he knew it. He was walking on thin ice. If he was making promises Sam and Doctor Lee couldn't come through with… But maybe the kid was right. This was Sam they were talking about. She would make it work. She usually did. He was taking a leap of faith here.

“Does O'Neill approve?” Bra'tac asked sharply.

Daniel coughed. “Sure.”

Teal'c and the older warrior exchanged a worried look.

Ka'lel pursed her lips. “What are you talking about, Daniel?”

But it was Teal'c who answered, his voice uncharacteristically hoarse with suppressed anger. “We will not talk while Gerak is present. His mind has already been poisoned by the Ori, our plans will not be safe if he hears them.”

What followed was a silence so deadly that Daniel swore he could hear the ancient dust ripple from the ceiling. Bra'tac rose and pointed the head of his staff at Gerak. “We request Gerak to be escorted to his quarters for the time being. It is only a measure of precaution, nothing more.”

A hollow laugh coming from the Jaffa leader finally broke the ban. “You cannot be serious!”

Voices called out in anger, but also in agreement. Everyone was talking at once and trying to outyell each other. Two council members jumped up and were about to leave.

Ka'lel raised both hands. “Silence!”

They settled down surprisingly fast. When everyone had resumed their seat, the former priestess turned to Gerak, bowing her head in respect. “I can't and won't force you to leave, Gerak, but as a the representative of this council I ask for your cooperation as a measure of caution.”

“You are calling me a traitor to my own people!” Gerak was losing his calm fast now.

“We are not calling you anything. But we have all heard of the Ori's way to alter minds,” Yat'yir, one of the oldest among the council members cautioned. His voice was raspy from age and his hair as white as snow, but his dark eyes were fierce and sharp.

“We will all stand behind you if we find your proposal useful and beneficial for all Jaffa,” Ka'lel continued, her voice gentler now. She turned and waved at two the men who were guarding the doors. “Please escort Gerak to his quarters.”

They stepped closer, apparently not very comfortable with the given order. But Gerak suddenly caved. “Very well. But you will one day thank me for I bring true salvation to our people. Mark my words.” With that he strode out, followed by the guards.

The door closed with a loud bang and every pair of eyes turned at once to Daniel at the podium.

 *** * ***  


LD finished his chili dog. He could as well have eaten chili covered cardboard. His appetite had gone out the window five minutes into dinner and the only reason he emptied his plate was to avoid getting into the current line of fire.

Well, right now there was actually a grudging stage of ceasefire with the occasional subtle blow from either side of the fronts, but he still opted for keeping his head down.

It was a shame because Jack's chili dogs were legendary, but enjoying your dinner was hard when the Ori war was taking place in your house.

It had already started at the mountain of course. During the debriefing after Teal'c and BD had returned from Dakara to be precise. Bra'tac had stayed at the temple to try and talk to Gerak in private after the council meeting had been recessed for the day.

Daniel had seen the inevitable drama unfold when Teal'c and BD reported they'd told the council of the anti-prior gun. Sam hadn't been happy. (“Oh my gosh, Daniel, there isn't even a prototype yet!”) Jack had clenched his jaw and asked them if they had lost their minds. Teal'c had looked at BD (“Did you not say O'Neill gave permission to speak of the device?”) and BD had shrugged and said he had improvised because otherwise Gerak would have gone through with his proposal and they needed to buy time and give the council something to consider before making rushed decisions. Teal'c had agreed. Sam had buried her face in her hands and groaned. Jack had clenched his jaw even harder. In the end Sam had gone to pull an all-niter with Doctor Lee and lots of coffee, Teal'c had returned to Dakara to keep an eye on things and Jack had stalked out of the briefing room and slammed his office door shut.

BD had sighed and fiddled with his notes. “I should go in there, huh?”

Daniel had stared at him. “ _Go in there_? Are you nuts?”

“Well, sooner or later I have to face the music.” His adult counterpart had stood and walked over to the window. He had gazed at the silent gate for a long moment before he finally said, “I wanted to give them hope. Something to hold onto. Maybe I needed to give myself hope.”

“I know,” Daniel had replied.

He'd seen the reflection of BD's face in the glass, the tightening of lips and the hardening of his jaw. When BD had turned to face him, his blue eyes were dark and stormy. “It's all we have. And Jack knows that.”

BD had squared his shoulders and walked out of the room.

LD had had every intention of staying to listen to the upcoming conversation… argument… He'd been pretty sure he would be able to hear most of it while he just stayed seated at the briefing room table. But just as Jack bellowed, _“I gave you a direct order!”_ Walter had come jogging up the stairwell from the control room.

“Is the general in his...”

Daniel had put a finger to his lips.

“ _I had to give them something!”_

“ _Yes, Daniel, something – but we don't HAVE anything!”_

“ _Not yet!”_

“ _There's no prototype! There's no knowing if there ever WILL be a working prototype at this point!”_

Walter's eyebrows had climbed over the rim of his wired glasses. “Are you eavesdropping, Daniel?”

“Um, I'm just sitting here?”

“ _Not even Woolsey knows about it yet!”_

“ _Well, it's not like the Jaffa are going to call or text him, so who cares?!”_

“ _The IOA is breathing down my neck about every damn step we take...”_

“ _So tell them!”_

“ _There IS nothing to tell.”_

“ _Yet!”_

Walter had crossed his arms and frowned.

“Hey, they'll tell me everything about it later, anyway,” Daniel had tried.

“Then there's no need to just sit here. And SG-11 will be here in...” Walter checked his watch, “two minutes for their briefing.”

There had been no more yelling forthcoming from Jack's office when Daniel passed it on his way to the elevator, but that didn't mean anything.

Jack had been brooding and grumpy on their way home. They had done their usual Friday night stop for groceries and it had been late by the time they'd entered their driveway. BD's jeep hadn't been in its usual spot by the garage and Daniel wondered if he would spend the night at his own house.

It wouldn't have been the first time. Then again, it wasn't unusual for BD to come home late. Or for Jack to take Daniel home, have dinner with him and then go back in again for a couple more hours of work or when a team was AWOL or new reports were coming in from allied worlds. Sometimes Thor dropped by to discuss Ori matters in the middle of the night. In the beginning Jack had always taken him back to base where he'd been sent to his personal quarters to go to sleep. But recently Jack had started to leave him home alone with the dog and the alarm system on. If there was a crisis that took the whole night Josh Berenger picked Daniel and Flyboy up in the morning to take them to work.

BD had arrived when Daniel returned from walking the dog. The 'grown ups' of the house had been in the kitchen throwing together chilli dogs and bickering when he'd come in and hung the leash on its hook by the front door.

“Didn't you get fresh garlic?”

“I put everything on the counter.”

“No garlic.”

“There's a jar of freeze dried on the shelf.”

“ _Great.”_

There had been a clatter, probably Jack throwing a spoon or something on the counter. “Take it or leave it.”

Daniel and Flyboy had retreated to the living room and stayed there until Jack had poked his head in from the dining room and told him to set the table.

And here they were.

BD looked up from his mostly untouched dinner. “Could you pass me the...”

Jack gave the water bottle a push and it slid across the table. BD caught it before it could hit the floor. “ _Thanks_.”

Jack went back to torturing his chili dog.

Daniel took a sip of his milk. He didn't particularly love plain milk, but it helped to neutralize the chili. He found he was way more sensitive to hot spicy food since he'd been downsized and he hadn't grown out of that yet.But he'd rather drink gallons of milk than give up chilli dogs or Thai.

The silence stretched and expanded like a vacuum bubble.

“Jack brought a new stash of Godiva chocolate from Safeway.” Daniel had considered that a peace offering. It was what Jack did.

BD poured water into his glass. “As a substitute for real garlic?”

“No, because _you_ like it,” Daniel snapped.

The frown line between BD's eyebrows smoothed out a little.

Then Jack said, “Should've brought a wagon load of garlic instead.”

The frown line increased again. “At least your chilli dogs would've been edible then.”

Jack pushed his chair back and started clearing the table, making a lot of clatter in the process. “You don't like my chilli dogs? Fine. Get your own dinner.” He slammed dishes on the counter. “You were the one whining about all the take out lately. _You_ wanted us to cook.”

“When I said 'cook' I didn't exactly mean chilli dogs,” BD bit back.

Jack opened the fridge, grabbed a beer and slammed the door shut. “Oh, I'm sorry I didn't have time to wait on you with a three course meal. I spent an hour on the phone sucking up to Woolsey and the president because someone thought it was a good idea to mention anti-prior guns to our allies.”

“Tough. I'm going to feel sorry for you when I have a minute.” BD got up from the table in one angry move and left the kitchen.

Daniel let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding. “Is he leaving?”

Jack scrubbed a weary hand over his face. “His choice.”

“Don't let him.” _Don't let the Ori get between you, too. They are doing enough damage as it is._

“He'll be back.” Jack took a swig from his beer.

Jack and Daniel always argued, no matter in what constellation. But lately the arguments between Jack and BD had changed. The tone of their bickering had become harsher and sometimes BD just left in the middle of it, retreating to his own house for a day or two. Then he'd return and things seemed back to normal for a while, until the next argument.

Daniel had no idea if they sorted things out when that happened or if they just shrugged it off and moved on. Most of their arguments seemed about nothing in particular when you looked at them from the outside, but he had a feeling there was much more going on under the surface.

“Don't let him slip away,” he said.

Jack leaned against the fridge, unmoving, bottle in hand. The minutes stretched.

There was no sound of the front door slamming.

Finally Jack put his beer on the counter. “Don't raid the Godiva just yet. I might still need it.” He patted Daniel's shoulder on his way out.

* * *

He found Daniel standing on the back deck, arms firmly wrapped around himself, head lowered. Jack put his beer on the table by the door and stood beside him, close enough to touch but not touching. “Thought you were leaving.”

Without a word Daniel loosened the tight hold of himself and raised a hand. The keys of his jeep were dangling from one of his fingers. “Thinking about it.”

“Don't. The dog gets anxious when you're not here. The kid's gonna blame it all on me...”

The arms came back around his body. “Sorry.” It was barely above a whisper.

Jack could almost physically feel how taut Daniel's whole body was, how it radiated rejection. _Don't touch_. He hadn't see this Daniel so vulnerable, so lost and defeated in years. He had a very unsettling _d_ _eja vu_ of the kid being exactly like this in those first horrible months after the downsizing.

“Hey, I forgot the garlic,” he tried to pull them back on lighter ground.

“You were right about the anti-prior device. We don't have anything yet. I've given them false hope.” His voice was harsh and bitter. “It probably won't make a difference anyway.”

“You did what you always do. Think on your feet.”

“Not minding the red tape.” Daniel pinched the bridge of his nose. “Jack, I...”

“You leave the red tape to me. You're the one who's out there. Groveling to Woolsey and the president is my end of the stick.” Jack hated it. Hated it with all his guts. But when he took a step back – and he was well aware he couldn't always take that step back when he was in a situation like today – he knew putting out those administrative and political fires was his job now. It was what Hammond had done all those years SG-1 had made decisions outside the box. Jack had never fully appreciated what Hammond had done for the SGC, how he'd done it and how he had managed to pull some of the strings he had pulled. He appreciated it now and he'd give the man a medal if he could.

“It's not the point anyway,” Daniel stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. That was better than the self hug, at least.

There was no arguing about that. “Carter will figure it out.”

“Yeah.”

Jack heard the 'whatever' in both their words. When had they stopped believing in Carter's ability as the miracle tech whiz? When had confidence so completely left both of them? Usually at least one of them still tried to pep talk and drag the other one through these deep dark abysses they occasionally had to cross.

“I love your chilli dogs,” Daniel said finally.

“I know.”

Daniel gave him a fleeting smile, so quick Jack almost missed it. He jiggled his keys. “I'm...”

 _Don't let him slip away._ The kid was right. This had gone on long enough. They had talked about this. About Daniel's need to be alone sometimes, that any socializing, any obligation to talk, to even be in the same room with someone, seemed too much to bear on some days. Jack knew a thing or two about that need for solitude. Hell, he had kind of welcomed the semi alone time, too. After ten or twelve hours of dealing with superiors or Ori related issues he was grateful for a couch, a beer and some mindless TV. Little D seemed to feel similar, he often holed up in his room with his new friend, the Ipod, or his books.

But it had only been a night here and there at first. Now they had reached a point where Jack went to bed alone most nights of the week and he didn't like this new development.

“Stay,” he said, and it came out more sharply than he intended.

Daniel rolled his shoulders and stretched his back. “I'm tired.”

“Let's go to bed then.” Jack put a tentative hand on the small of Daniel's back. “Sleep with me.” Just sleep. And a warm body to hold onto.

“On the weekend,” Daniel promised, smoothly moving away from the touch. Away from Jack.

“It's the weekend now. You're off work on Sunday…”

“Jack, I'm beat, okay? I've got two… three missions scheduled for tomorrow...”

“Two. I checked.”

Daniel closed his eyes briefly. “Next weekend I'll stay with you.”

“'s what you said last weekend.”

“I was off world most of that weekend,” a new edge crept into Daniel's voice.

“I know. I spent most of that weekend waiting to hear from you guys,” Jack returned tartly.

“I won't be off world next weekend.”

“No, you won't. It's your birthday. And I'm gonna haul the whole gang out here for that party and everyone's gonna have fun, or else,” Jack growled.

He expected at least a grin at that, but instead Daniel groaned and shook his head. “Oh god. I totally forgot… is that next weekend, really?”

“Yes, Daniel, really. And may I remind you that you were going to order that Firefly DVD box the kid wanted?”

Daniel nodded slowly. “I ordered that, it's already at my place. I just kind of lost track of time. Who's responsible for the cake?”

“I'll ask Pete. He's always happy to contribute and that man can bake.”

“Death by Chocolate,” Daniel ordered and finally there was the shadow of a grin.

“Yeahsureyabetcha.”

To his surprise Daniel leaned in and pecked him on the cheek. “I'll make up for it, I promise.” Then he slipped down the stairs from the deck into the garden and was gone.

Jack listened to the sound of the jeep being started and maneuvered out the driveway.

Yep, it was one of those days, weeks, months…

He stayed out on the deck for a moment longer, listening to the crickets and gazing at a clear starry sky. He felt a strong pull to get into his truck and go after Daniel, to force him out of his shell. But it could backfire big time because neither of them reacted well to being cornered.

Except sometimes it had to be done.

And then again he was too tired to face this tonight.

He picked up his beer, finished it in one long gulp and went back inside.

The kitchen was a mess, pots and pans still on the counter, leftovers drying on the plates by the sink. They were taking turns with either cooking or doing the less appealing kitchen duties. Jack and BD had cooked tonight.

“Daniel!”

When no answer was forthcoming, Jack went to his room and, after one sharp knock, walked in. “Get your butt in...” He trailed off and shook his head.

Daniel, still fully dressed, was sprawled on his bed, his glasses halfway down his nose, fast asleep. He was holding onto his Ipod with lax fingers. One of the earplugs had come off, the other one was still firmly attached to one of Daniel's ears. Half on top of him was the dog, his head resting on the boy's hip.

Jack picked up the Ipod, removed the earplugs and put them on the nightstand. He took the glasses off and folded them before they joined the Ipod.

He knew he should wake him and at least remind him that dishes were done right after dinner _before_ one retreated to his room. Or at the very least to make sure he'd brush his teeth and took off his jeans.

Instead he stood at his son's bed for a long moment, looking at his face – so incredibly young and relaxed now that he was in slumberland.

_I won't let anything happen to you. Or to Daniel. I'll keep you safe, even if it's the last thing_ _I do_ _._

He knew he probably wasn't able to keep that promise this time, but he'd try. He'd die trying if he had to.

Jack grabbed Daniel's comforter and tucked him in, gently ruffling the blond mop of hair. “Sleep tight, kiddo.”


	3. Rainbow Warriors - Chapter III

**I** **II**

Four hours after he'd gone to bed Jack was back at the mountain, sipping bad but hot and strong coffee as he entered the control room. “Walter? Where's the fire?”

Walter, who always seemed to be at the mountain – Jack suspected the man had to have at least one or two clones because no one could possibly be at work 24/7 – looked up from his computer screen. “It's Teal'c, sir. I've established a video link with him on Dakara.” He gestured to another monitor next to his.

Jack sat down and tapped the mike. “Teal'c? What's up?”

“I have been told that the majority of the council is leaning towards accepting Gerak's proposal despite our warnings.”

“Doesn't sound good.”

“Bra'tac and I no longer believe this battle can be won through diplomacy alone. The council must know of our resolve by other means. We will travel to Chulak to meet with other Jaffa leaders who feel as we do. No matter what the council decides, we will resist any alliance with the Ori.”

“So, your fight for freedom may end up in an all-out civil war. Teal'c… give Carter some more time to come up with that anti-prior thing before you make any moves you might regret later.”

“I have confidence in ColonelCarter, O'Neill. But in the meantime we cannot sit idle and do nothing. We have to prepare for the worst. Bra'tac and I must go and gather followers now.”

Jack knew he couldn't actually order Teal'c to stand down. The Jaffa's responsibility to his own people sometimes clashed with his loyalty to the SGC and Jack knew Teal'c would go off to do what he had to do regardless of his yay or nay. But he also trusted Teal'c without a doubt. “Gather followers. But don't start a war just yet.”

Teal'c bowed his head in acknowledgment. Then he said the dreaded words. “There is more.”

Jack waved at the screen. “Hit me with it.” _What now?_

“Gerak is gone. He has taken a Tel'tak and left. No one knows where to.”

“You think he's taken matters into his own hand?” Just what they needed. Not.

“The supergates are all guarded. He cannot go through without being detected. I have informed our fleet. But if he has set up a meeting with a prior there is little we can do.”

“Keep me posted.” Jack gestured to Walter to cut off the transmission when Teal'c bowed his farewell. “I need more coffee. And pie. I'm at the commissary.” He refused to start on his daily paperwork routine before breakfast.

* * *

Daniel liked being at the commissary at night – or very early in the morning – when it was quiet and almost empty. Julie, who was on night shift for another three hours, greeted him with a knowing smile. “Good morning, Daniel. The usual?”

He gave her a sheepish smile. “Hi Julie. Yeah, the usual.”

She nodded and went to get his coffee, creamer and sugar. “There are bagels, fresh from the oven. With cream cheese and a bowl of strawberries,” she offered.

“No. Thanks, but… no.” He took his coffee and quickly moved to a table in the corner. Julie had never mother-henned him like certain other people would, but she kept offering him breakfast every morning, or late night snacks – depending on when he came down here – and Daniel knew she thought he should eat more.

Hell, Daniel himself thought he should eat more.

He was taking breaks. Coffee breaks. At the commissary. Away from his office. It was what Janet had insisted on when she had treated his bruise. _Take more breaks, Daniel. You look terrible._

He rubbed his tired eyes. He should go to sleep. But while he'd had trouble sleeping for a while now, he hadn't slept at all last night. He had tried. Had gone to his house, gone to bed where he had gazed at the ceiling and tried not to think about how Marc Winter's eyes had widened with surprise and shock when the staff blast had hit his back.

His eyes. They had been blue with gray spots in them.

But most of all they had been so young.

“Did you actually go home last night?”

Daniel raised his head slowly. Every move was like walking through molasses. God, he was so tired. He needed a shower. A cold one. “I...” He cleared his throat. “I went home. Couldn't sleep.”

A plate with fresh cream cheese bagels was pushed in front of him, followed by a bowl of strawberries. “Breakfast.”

“Is that an order?”

“Oh, yeah.” Jack sat down and started eating his Froot Loops as if they were a delicacy.

Daniel eyed the bagel and pulled the bowl of strawberries over to pick one of them. And another one. They were good. Refreshing. “Why are you here? It's 04:15. Is LD with you?”

“Nope. I left him in his bed. And he's not coming in today.”

Daniel took a bite of his bagel and as if on cue his stomach growled. Great. Score one for the O'Neill mother-hen. “Does he _know_ he's taking off today?”

“Nope, not yet.”

“Oh. I can see a tsunami on your agenda soon.”

“He needs a day off.”

“I know.” He wasn't blind and even though he might have been focusing a little too much on other things these days, he was worried about Little-him, too. But he didn't feel it was up to him to restrict LD's working hours. He wasn't the best role model anyway. And he was more than grateful for all the work the kid shouldered right now because it gave him more time to go off world and find those runes.

Or get shot at and banged up while looking for allies.

“Teal'c called.” Jack clued him in on the news from Dakara while they ate.

“A resistance?” Daniel put the bagel down.

“Yep. One more thing to look forward to.” Jack swirled his spoon around in his bowl, fishing for the last Froot Loop. “Let's blow this joint, move to the cabin and live on no-fish and grilled mosquitoes.”

Daniel grinned, almost against his will. Jack's brown eyes kept a hold on his and just for this small moment he felt warmer and a little more alive. “Sounds like a plan.”

* * *

_Little Daniel skips over small rocks and dead sun-bleached chunks of wood, uphill on the path to the circle of stones. He knows someone will be waiting for him there today, he can feel it. The air is still and warm, the trees lush and green. The wildflowers on the meadow in the clearing are still in full bloom. He always wants to pick some when he passes through them, they are so vivid, so colorful. But this is only a dream, so he can't. And every time he realizes he's in a dream he feels this pang of sadness because this place is light and peaceful and out of phase._

_The path evens out on the plateau and before him lies the circle of large boulders and the cross in its middle and the caim. The air around him seems to shift and he can almost feel the presence of…_

“ _Ayiana?”_

_...someone else. Something else. Energy._

_Then it is gone._

_He slowly turns around on his heels. He can feel rubble and grass under the soles of his feet, is aware of the sun on his bare arms. He looks up at the brilliant blue sky._

_It's summer._

_An eagle, dark against the bright sun, describes a large circle and takes off into the distance._

_Something is pulling at his conscience or at his body, he can't really tell, but the scenery around him begins to shimmer and dissolve..._

  


...Daniel slid towards awakening, his body trying to cling to the cozy warm feeling of sleep and he huddled deeper under his blanket as his mind lazily tried to grab the fast fading fragments of his dream.

It was a familiar dream, matching the visions of his attempts at kel'no'reem.

But – like the kel'no'reem sessions – it was pointless.

He yawned and stretched, then tried to roll away from the persistent nudges. When something tugged at his blankets he finally opened one bleary eye and groaned at Flyboy mauling his comforter. “Leave it… you're slobberin' all over it..” He yawned again and then blinked.

The pyramid airbrush on his wall in sandy and golden colors appeared more lifelike than usually, the rich tones coming out beautifully in the bright morning sun falling in through his window. He loved how the daylight affected his painting.

But if the light was this bright it could only mean one thing.

It was late.

He threw off his covers and Flyboy immediately let go and ran out the door. “'m comin',” Daniel murmured. He realized he was still wearing yesterday's clothes. He must have fallen asleep when he'd been listening to his new podcast. How embarrassing. And he was still a bit tired.

However, a quick check of his alarm clock and he was up and after the dog in light speed.

08:45!

“I HATE it when he does that,” he shouted to the empty house.

He had been delighted when Jack finally started to loosen the reins and let him go out on his own, to walk the dog alone and to let him stay at home alone. He knew it hadn't been easy for his overprotective guardian to make that transition, but Daniel had treasured the trust and tried hard not to overstep too many boundaries.

And now? Now he occasionally wished Jack was still as paranoid about him being home alone as he used to be at the time when they thought the NID or Anubis was coming after him.

It wasn't that he didn't like being home alone.

It was that he felt like being left behind when Jack went to the mountain without him, trying to trick him into taking a day, or at least a couple of hours, off. Keeping him away from what was going on at the SGC.

What if…

_No. Don't go there._

Daniel stood in the hallway, forcing himself to take deep breaths, to feel the warm floorboards under his feet, to focus on the peace of the house he called his home for so long now. To take in the faint scent of wood, fresh laundry, coffee and a whiff of Jack's soap.

It only took a moment to ground him. This simple breathing technique his former therapist, Doctor Svenson, had taught him often did the trick whenever Daniel felt his thoughts going into overload or when he started feeling anxious.

He turned the house's alarm system off, let the dog out into the yard and watched him bound all over the lawn. It was Flyboy's morning ritual and Daniel usually loved watching him.

But today he left him to it and trudged into the kitchen.

The spotless kitchen. There was a pang of guilt as he realized it had been his turn to do dishes last night and he hadn't done it. He'd intended to do it – later. And had fallen asleep instead.

He checked the dog's bowls. One was filled with water, the other one was empty, but there were tiny bits of dried dog food on the placemat so Jack had fed him before he left. Not knowing when exactly Jack had left, Daniel put some Happy Dog freeze dried chicken bits into the empty bowl and decided it was time for coffee.

He scowled at the cereal bowl and spoon on the table, next to the box of his multigrain Cheerios. A note had been taped to the box, written in Jack's scrawl.

 _'Had to leave around 03:00. Take the day off. The dog could use some fresh air. J.'_ At the bottom of his note Jack had drawn an arrow pointing at the Cheerio bowl on the box. Underneath the arrow was one more word. _'Eat!'_

Pointedly ignoring the Cheerios, Daniel started the espresso machine and opened the upper cupboard to get a mug. Then he slipped into the pantry and, with a satisfied little smile, retrieved his breakfast.

When the machine had stopped humming and the red light blinked to indicate it was ready, he chose 'strong blend' and, a moment later, sat at the kitchen table with a huge mug of rich hot coffee. He added creamer and two spoons of sugar.

Then he opened one of the Godiva chocolate boxes and carefully chose a caramel bar.

Perfect.

“I am eating,” he said to the dog who had come in and gone straight to his morning snack. “Following orders.” The caramel melted in his mouth and he took a sip of his 'strong blend'. “I'm not even sure chocolate is worse than Cheerios.” Frowning at the fact he was justifying his breakfast choices to the dog, he added. “And there's still enough Godiva for BD.”

He had a feeling Jack needed more convincing tactics than a box of Godivas to solve whatever was going awry between him and BD at the moment. He tried not to worry. He couldn't help them there, but that rift – no matter how small - between them was unsettling and just another thing added to Daniel's underlying anxiety.

Slowly chewing his chocolate with sips of his coffee in between, he gazed out of the kitchen window. He could see the orange dots of the marigolds in one of the small flower beds by the fence. The summer lilac right by the window was in full bloom, attracting butterflies. Daniel watched them land and take off, like tiny elves, hovering for a moment before they were on their way to the next source of nectar.

It was summer.

This year the change from spring to summer had almost come and gone unnoticed. He had been underground a lot, where it was always the same light, the same temperature. Sure, they had taken the dog on walks and they had tried to get breaks in between. Still, everything but the Ori war seemed to be like a pale imitation, a tapestry.

When had that happened? When had they let the Ori take away their lives?

Suddenly the Godiva was too sweet and the coffee too strong. Grimacing he hopped from his chair, returned the chocolate box to the pantry and called the mountain.

It turned out that Josh, his designated driver, wasn't available today and they wouldn't tell him why. When he asked for another driver he was told to call in later. He hung up and called Jack.

Jack was in a meeting. BD was off world, so was Teal'c. Sam was unavailable because she was working on the anti-prior-device.

Finally, after several tries, he had Walter on the phone. Walter told him the general had put Daniel on leave for today and that his standing orders were to 'have fun and enjoy the great weather'.

Screw the great weather.

Screw Jack and his sneaky ways.

He had work to do. Even if it was only translation and research work.

For a moment Daniel considered riding his bike all the way to the mountain, but after checking his phone for a bike route he ditched the idea. Too many private closed roads on the bike route and several highways to cross.

He could take a cab. And then Jack would pay for it, he'd make sure of that.

Yep, that's exactly what he'd do. Jack could order Josh, or anyone else, not to give him a ride. But he couldn't order the Colorado Springs cab services not to take him to Cheyenne Mountain.

With grim determination Daniel took a quick shower, brushed his teeth, got dressed in a pair of black jeans, a khaki t-shirt and a black ballcap. He checked his backpack to make sure he had everything he needed – which wasn't actually necessary since he rarely got to unpack it anymore.

He grabbed his phone, went out on the deck and called the dog while he was looking for the number of the cab service closest to him.

And then he paused and lowered the phone.

He stood there, gazing at the unruly lawn and the flower beds that needed weeding very badly. Jack loved doing his yardwork. All the cutting, pruning, mowing, digging, planting… he said it calmed him, grounded him. Just like the Daniels loved to cook and to read. Or, in Little Daniel's case, to work out down in the basement or at the SGC's gym.

Daniel tried to remember when was the last time he had seen Jack work in the backyard. Weeks ago? A month? Two months? When had they all hung out together – with Sam and Teal'c and Pete, too – on the deck, having BBQ?

It was summer.

A week from now Daniel would turn 12. One year closer to being a teenager. Almost a milestone. There probably wouldn't be a party this year, for either him or BD. Which was fine with him. He had had plenty of birthday parties now, he didn't need a party every year.

Did the Ori allow birthday celebrations? What about Christmas? Nah, no Christmas in Origin. Orimas? Orimess. A mess of Ori. Jack would like that, he loved word plays. Daniel had to remember to tell him.

When he stopped being mad at him.

He snorted softly as he looked across the yard at the trees. His gaze was caught by the steps leading up to his tree house, his refugee of peace. It would be nice to go up there and hole up with a book. Just for fun.

With a sigh he picked up his phone again, but instead of calling a cab he called Nyan.

It took a bit of convincing to get Nyan to send him some of his work in an e-mail. Apparently Jack had taken the time to let everyone know that Daniel was on leave and wasn't going to do any work today. But after a bit of prodding and a promise to treat him to one of the Starbucks summer specials next week, the Bedrosian finally caved.

Daniel wasn't allowed to take home classified files or alien texts, but he had a backlog of research reading on some earth-based alien civilizations and asking Nyan to send him the PDF versions of several books wasn't against the rules. It wasn't even considered toeing the line.

Asking Nyan to also send him some of his files with personal notes of comparison, was.

But Daniel had a secure encrypted e-mail account.

Thirty minutes later he was slouched on the couch in his tree house, a freshly brewed mug of coffee beside him and the laptop on his knees. A soft summer breeze brought in the smell of grass, and something Daniel couldn't pin point, through the open window. Apple blossoms maybe, or some other tree in bloom… something fresh and sweet. When he turned his head and looked out he could see Flyboy dozing on the lawn, a shiny black blanket stretched out on green grass, totally relaxed.

Maybe Jack was right. The dog needed a day off.

As if on cue Daniel's phone beeped. With a roll of his eyes he considered not answering it, but Jack would keep pestering him until he _did_ answer it. “I'm mad at you,” he opened the conversation.

“And a good morning to you, too, Daniel.”

“Bite me.”

“What'cha doing?”

“Why? Is this an interrogation?”

“You're not working, right?”

Daniel squinted at the open PDF on his screen. “I'm reading.”

“Something fun?”

“Something interesting.”

There was a pause and he could almost see Jack roll his eyes at the phone. “Look, I know I can't actually _order_ you to go out there and have fun… strike that, I know reading is fun for you… but at least promise me you won't spend your whole day off reading. Get on your bike, roam the neighborhood, go to the mall, get some ice cream… I can give you a shopping list if you need a reason to go.”

Daniel couldn't smother a grin. Jack knew him so well. Sometimes that was unsettling. Sometimes it felt good in a strange way. “What's going on?” he changed the subject.

“Not much.”

“They called you back in last night. They don't do that for 'not much'.” Daniel tried not to sound snappish, but wasn't very successful. And when it came down to it he didn't really care. He had a right to be angry, so there.

“Teal'c had news from Dakara.” Jack replied rather curtly.

“What news?”

“Daniel, you took the day off...”

“No, I didn't. _You_ made me stay home.”

“Yes, because you wouldn't take a day off if your life depended on it and you needed a break.”

“I'm perfectly capable of taking breaks when I need them, not when you think I need them,” he blurted out and then bit his lip so hard, he almost yelped.

This was such a throwback to those old arguments they used to have on a daily basis several years ago.

“You know why I stopped taking you with me when they call me back in at nights,” Jack said quietly.

Daniel chewed on his bottom lip. They both knew the reason, he wasn't going to answer that. Another throwback issue.

“Because I had to drag you back to bed from your office every single time I took you with me. Several times a night. Ring any bells?”

“Stop doing that. I got it, loud and clear,” he snapped. And to make it worse he felt tears sting at the back of his eyes. Whoa, over reacting here, big time. He took a deep breath, and another one. The moment passed.

“What's gonna happen if I call Nyan right now and ask him if he sent you work related reading material?”

“It's just reading...”

“You and I are going to have a little I chat about this tonight.”

“If you want to have a little chat with someone, try BD,” Daniel muttered. Oh, it seemed he really needed a break. He was on a roll today, wasn't he?

“What's _that_ supposed to mean?”

Daniel got just a little bit of satisfaction from the fact that Jack could do defensive, too. “I don't know, but something's going on and I think you should take care of it.”

“Seems to me there's a bunch of Daniel related things I need to take care of,” Jack said dryly. But his voice was more gentle when he continued, “There's no immediate fire to put out right now. It was just intel. You know they have orders to call me in for that, too.”

“Okay.” But there was something else, he could sense it. And after a heartbeat he asked, “Jack?”

“Daniel found the sixth rune.”

Six runes, six additional single symbols carved below each rune. The gate address! If they had six symbols now, and added the point of Origin – Earth – they should be able to dial out! “Do we have a destination?” Daniel held his breath.

But when Jack stayed quiet for a long moment he felt his hopes crash like a house of cards. “No gate address?”

“We tried to dial out with the symbols we got and added our seventh. No match. Could be an eight chevron address, could be the gate belonging to that address was destroyed.”

“If it's an eight chevron address we need a ZPM,” Daniel murmured.

“Ye-ah. Easy to say hard to find. But… look, I'm not gonna say _don't worry_ , but try to distract yourself. There's nothing we can do right now, about anything, you know that, too.”

Daniel put his laptop down and knelt on the couch to look out the window. Flyboy was still dozing, soaking up the sunlight. “Are you going to talk to BD?”

There was a long stretch of silence, then, “Yeah.”

“Soon?”

“As soon as I can. And Daniel...”

“Yeah?”

“Are we on the same page about taking today off?”

He sighed. “Yeah. Okay.”

“Good man. I gotta go; briefings, IOA, HWS… the joy of being a general.”

“Jack… don't yell at Nyan. I kind of bribed him.”

“Starbucks?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Brat.” But Daniel knew that tone of voice. The storm had passed.

He hung up and, for a moment, sat motionless on his couch, trying to reflect on his attitude. Gavin had encouraged him to take a couple of minutes to reflect when he realized he'd been over reacting. It was a bit like Doc Svenson's grounding technique.

A day off didn't sound so bad after all.

* * *

Jack hung up the phone and gazed at nothing in particular as he replayed the conversation in his head.

He definitely needed to take care of Daniel related things. He had probably let this slide for too long already. But Earth days weren't Abydos days and there was only so much trouble shooting he could manage in 24 hours.

Which was exactly part of the problem. He wasn't even there to chew the kid out in person, had to do it over the phone. Half his life seemed to be one endless phone conversation lately. Woolsey, Davis, the President… HWS secretaries, Woolsey again… Jack eyed his inbox. The other half of his life was dedicated to reading, signing, approving, more signing… Who would have thought that debriefs would become the favorite part of his job?

And then of course there was the waiting. Which was probably the worst part of it. The hours of waiting for his teams to return, the time he spent working behind his desk while his people were out there risking their lives and fighting the battles Jack used to fight.

He powered up his laptop and opened the off world schedule for this weekend and the coming week. Since Carter was working on the anti-prior doohickey 24/7 with Doctor Lee and Teal'c was dividing his time between the SGC and Jaffa politics, Daniel had done quite a bit of team hopping. Mostly he had worked through Merlin's runes and riddle list, but he had also been out there to try and recruit new allies. Over the last three weeks Doctor Jackson had gone on first contact missions with SG-11, SG-15, SG-6 and SG-4.

Jack frowned at the upcoming mission schedule. Daniel's name was all over the time table. That wasn't news, Jack had signed the schedule. But there were at least three missions, one today, two tomorrow, he was pretty sure he hadn't approved.

He picked up the phone and dialed the control room. “Walter! I need you to come up here for a...”

Walter was standing in his office even before Jack had ended the sentence. To this day Jack could not figure out how he did that. The clone theory seemed the only explanation for this. They were waiting around corners to show up just when they were needed.

Jack turned his laptop to show Walter the time table. “How did that happen?”

“Sir?”

“Doctor Jackson's mission schedule. It's a bit tight, don't'cha think?”

“Doctor Jackson handed in three more assignment requests for missions with SG-11 and SG-15 yesterday.”

“Why doesn't he show up as pending until I signed this?”

“He had the printed memo for the additional missions signed by team leaders Colonels Carter and Reynolds as well as Major Dixon. He said he already talked to you and that you were going to sign it later. I didn't expect a problem...”

“Well, I didn't and you're not approving anyone to go unless I did.”

Walter didn't blink. “I assumed you were busy and put it on one of your… piles, sir.”

Even after almost two years of Jack being _the man_ Walter still put a disapproving undertone into the word 'pile'. There had never been 'piles' on Hammond's desk. There were always piles on Jack's. Those piles weren't nearly as high or cluttered as they used to be in the beginning, but they were still, well, piles.

Today, however, there was no pile in the inbox with the red note taped to it that read 'urgent'. Jack waved at it. “No pile, Walter. No memo for additional missions.”

With nimble fingers Walter leafed through the other inbox, the one that wasn't 'urgent'. It took only seconds until he pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to Jack.

This particular form had been neatly folded in half.

Jack tugged it from Walter's hand and glared at it. “Put him on pending for those additional missions.”

“Yes, sir. Do you want me to inform Colonel Reynolds and Major Dixon?”

“Nope, I'll talk to them myself.” He'd make the point that Daniel wasn't the archeologist for hire for all occasions. They had a whole staff of very capable civilian consultants, all trained to go out there.

First he had to get that exact point across to said archeologist himself though.

He found Daniel in Little D's office, going over some files. He looked up briefly when Jack entered. “Hey.”

Jack closed the door.

Daniel lowered the folder he was about to open and looked up again with raised eyebrows “This can't be good.”

“What gave it away?”

“You closing the door.”

Jack unfolded the assignment form and handed it to Daniel.

Daniel took it, read it and shrugged. “I put it on your desk. All you have to do is sign it. And I need to gear up in,” he checked his watch, “twenty minutes.”

“You didn't _put it on my desk_ , Daniel, you stuck it into my inbox...”

“Put it on top of your inbox,” Daniel corrected smoothly.

“It wasn't on top...”

“Then you probably piled stuff on it without noticing.” Daniel started stacking files, then paused and cocked his head. “You know, General Hammond never had any piles on his desk.”

In certain conversations with Little Daniel Jack had learned to step back and count backwards from ten. Or hundred. Sometimes it helped with the grown up version, too. He was well aware they could dance around this BBQ forever and get lost in details about who put what and where for hours, so he chose not to do that.

He chose not to take the 'pile' bait either.

“Here's something funny for ya. Walter was under the impression you'd already talked to me and that I'd given you a go,” he said, eyebrows raised.

Daniel blinked slowly, frowned, pursed his lips and crossed his arms over his chest. “He got that wrong. I said I was going to talk to you right away - but you weren't there so I put it on your desk, on top of your inbox, whatever…” He straightened and grabbed those files again. “Jack, I really have to get ready...”

“You've been offworld this morning… in fact you just got back,” Jack checked his watch, “an hour ago.”

“And it turned out to be a very fascinating planet with intriguing cave walls, but it didn't take that long to record the runes...”

Jack knew that. The debrief had been short and quick. Another cave, another set of runes. This one even more cryptic than the others.

But that wasn't the point.

“You were scheduled for one more go this afternoon, that's two missions. Not three. And you're supposed to have a day off tomorrow.”

He had the decency to look at least a little bit sheepish. “Those mission are from Merlin's list. Doctor Meyers has a broken ankle and a concussion, so Major Dixon asked me to cover for him and I don't mind. And the guy on Reynold's team is new and...”

Sometimes it was like talking to wall. “Daniel.”

Daniel closed his eyes briefly. “Yes. Jack.”

“You've been off world every single day of the week, which is already more than you're supposed to. There is a rotation routine for off world teams for a reason.” Jack needed Daniel out there, there was no doubt about it. But he also needed him out there 100% and not as a shadow of himself.

“Little D is doing a brilliant job on all the pre mission research and post mission work, we're a great team and he's saving me a lot of time with all the groundwork he's doing. I can use that time to go off world.”

“You and LD are supposed to work together. He's shouldering way too much of a workload anyway!”

“He is fine.” But Daniel's eyes flicked away from Jack and they both knew it wasn't true.

“No, he's not fine, Daniel. And neither are you. Or anyone around here. We are all fucked, tired and angry. But working yourself into exhaustion - both of you - won't change a thing.”

“Look, it's good you made him take today off. In fact, it's long overdue that he is taking a proper break. But Daniel needs to work, Jack. It's all he can do. His work is what gives him the feeling of doing something. It keeps him sane.”

“I know that. But it also drains him. He's cranky and moody. The circles under his eyes are as big as yours.”

“It's not the work that drains him. It's this damn war.”

“And the fact that he's not getting enough sleep or rest,” Jack insisted. “And neither are you.” He felt like a broken record.

Daniel rubbed a tired hand over his eyes. “Are you going to scrub me off this mission? Because if you're not I need to go...”

Jack gritted his teeth. He knew P9C-887 not only held another one of those damn runes on a cave wall. According to what the UAV recorded its population was more advanced than any of the other worlds on Merlin's list had been. It was a long shot, but there was at least a possibility of getting a new ally. He could send someone else to cover for Meyers, but Daniel had read and approved LDs pre mission prep based on the UAV material so he was already briefed.

“Go. But I'm going to scrub you off the other two. And if the Ori don't come knocking at our door today, you're going to be off work tomorrow.”

Daniel opened his mouth, then closed it, nodded and rushed past Jack who called after him. “This conversation isn't over!”


	4. Rainbow Warriors Chapter IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daniel goes on a hike ...

**IV**

It had taken a lot of time and even more patience to teach Flyboy how to run with the bike, but Daniel hadn't given up and he was proud of his dog and himself for having accomplished what seemed to be an impossible task when he'd started practicing last summer.

They stopped at a park where dogs were allowed off leash and played with Flyboy's red frisbee for a while. Then they laid down on the grass, side by side, Daniel drinking from a bottle of water, Flyboy chewing on a piece of wood he had dragged out from underneath the bushes.

He felt bad because Big Daniel and Nyan had to do all his work today.

He was happily exhausted from running around and throwing the frisbee.

He hated not being at the mountain, not being in the loop, even for a day. So many awful things could happen in one day.

He loved the grass, the sun, the jingling distorted 'Pop goes the Weasel' song of the approaching ice cream truck, the kids' laughter and screams from the playground close by.

Daniel fished for small change in his jeans pocket. “Ice cream, buddy?”

Flyboy knew the words 'ice cream'. He dropped his wood and was on his feet,tail wagging in happy anticipation. Together they ran across the neatly trimmed park lawn, around the fenced playground and to the street corner where the ice cream truck had stopped. Daniel got there faster than most of the playground kids so he didn't have to wait long until he was holding his chocolate mint cone in one hand and a small vanilla cone for Flyboy.

A moment later they were back in their sunny spot, licking ice cream. Well, Daniel licked. Flyboy made a big slobbering mess with his.

Daniel thought about his upcoming birthday. Jack and BD had asked him what he wanted and he'd said an Amazon gift certificate and a DVD box set. He knew they wouldn't take 'nothing' for an answer. Amazon gift cards was easy to purchase and since he never got away away with wanting just 'one thing' he’d asked for the Firefly box. He loved that show. It was a bit like wild west in space.

He had watched a lot of movies and TV shows recently when he couldn't sleep or when he was too exhausted to read a book. Movies were a nice mindless thing to do. He even sat and watched The Simpsons with Jack from time to time now.

Welll, d'oh. He had probably reached a new low in order to distract himself from what was going on at the SGC. To keep his entertainment level at least slightly educational he had started listening to audio books. He had gotten an Ipod last Christmas and discovered his love for podcasts. Nothing ever beat real books in his opinion, but when you spent most hours of your day reading, just listening to someone reading _to_ you was nice and relaxing for a change.

Flyboy had licked himself clean, there were no traces of vanilla ice cream left on him. Daniel wiped his sticky hands on his jeans, well aware it was gross, but not caring. There had to be some upsides to being a kid.

He got back on his bike and they headed in the general direction of the library. Last year he and Al had done the summer reading program there. It seemed like a lifetime away now. He hadn't been at the library in months. It might be fun to look for new books.

Only dogs weren't allowed at the library.

The Rainbow Center came into view as he turned the next corner.

He had no appointment with Doc Murphy today, there was no need to stop there. And while dogs were actually allowed at the center, Daniel wasn't sure if he needed a special permit to take Flyboy inside.

He could take a look at the skate track, though, see if Tara and her friends were there. He wondered if she liked dogs? Most girls did, right? Most kids, actually, probably. Even Al loved Flyboy and he was scared of dogs.

Almost reluctantly he slowed down and finally stopped at the bike stands. Lots of bikes here already. He found a free spot and locked his Schwinn. Taking Flyboy's leash shorter, he entered through the open gate with the rainbow sign above and, instead of going inside, he took the paved walkway around the building to the back.

The courtyard was divided in three areas. A basketball court, a lawn with picnic tables and benches and the skate track. There were always boys and girls on the basketball court or sitting on the benches or the tables. Sometimes there was a softball match going on or an impromptu theater play. The skate track, however, seemed to belong to Tara and her gang of skaters. Always the same group of teens hogging that space. No one seemed to mind, though. Maybe there weren't any other kids who wanted to skate, or maybe it was a natural hierarchy everyone respected - Daniel had no idea.

They were always there on their cool boards, wearing the hippest clothes, being bold and fearless in the way they controlled their boards on the track.

Daniel sat on one of the benches and watched three boys doing their jumps, flips and airwalks. Tara was nowhere in sight which was strange because she usually hung out with the boys here. Daniel kept watching them, unsure if he should just leave or stay and wait until she showed up.

_And then – what?_

He could treat her to a snack at the Rainbow Café.

Of course he'd never do that.

_But I could._

And she'd never come along anyway.

He watched Grayson – a tow-headed lanky kid with the first signs of acne on his forehead – doing a kick-flip and come to a halt at the end of the track. Daniel wondered if he'd be able to do that. It didn't look too hard. Gray's board looked pretty worn, but also pretty cool. It was covered in airbrushed flames of red, orange and yellow and a black grinning skull at the head.

Ron was next, his raven black hair fluttering in the breeze as he went rushing down the ramp and up again on the other side. He did a little flip with his board without stopping and came down again, riding up the other side and doing that same little flip. Daniel counted him do it eight times without pausing. Down the ramp and up, flip around, down again and up, flip, down again…

“It's called a Frontside Ollie.”

Daniel looked up, blinking against the sun. Gray was standing next to him, watching Ron too.

“He's good at it,” Daniel said

Gray snorted. “It's an easy one. He's been doin' it since kindergarten. He could be asleep and still do it.”

“Oh.”

“Ever been on a board, dude?”

“Uh, no.”

Gray kicked the heel of his board up and grabbed the head with one hand. “Wanna try?”

Daniel bit his lip. He thought it might be fun to try. But at the same time he didn't want to give these boys something to laugh at. “Can't,” he said with a nod at his dog. “He'll try to go after me.”

“Hey, look, Tara's one-dude-fanclub is here.” Ron rolled over to them, grinning from ear to ear, his green eyes twinkling with mirth.

Daniel tightened his hands on Flyboy's leash and tried to do the patented O'Neill poker face thing as he gave the other boy a cool assessing look.

“Leave him alone, he's just watching.” Gray pulled a ballcap from the pocket of his shorts and put it on.

“He's always watching.” Ron looked Daniel up and down. He was hard to place, but Daniel thought he might be older than Gray and Tara, maybe 15 or 16. His voice had already lost its high pitch and his face was more angular, more manly, than Gray's. There was a tattoo on his left bicep, a lion head, and Daniel had wondered about the story behind that a couple of times. “But,” Ron raised a finger, “he's always only watching Tink.”

Daniel needed a moment to remember that the boys usually called Tara 'Tink', which was short for Tinkerbell. Maybe because she looked so dainty, almost fragile, and had those sparkling big eyes. However, the look deceived. She was anything but fragile. She was a daredevil on her board – Daniel had seen her doing stunts that took his breath away.

Gray chuckled. “Jealous, Peter Pan?”

Ron snorted, turned around and stormed up the ramp where he jumped on his board and continued doing his tricks.

Gray gave Daniel a thoughtful look. “Tara hasn't shown up today, so if you were looking for her...” He shrugged.

“Oh, okay.” Daniel felt like an idiot. It was probably better to just leave.

The blond boy shouldered his board and called over to Ron. “Hey, I'm gonna stop by Tink's place, see if she's okay. You comin'?”

Ron rushed down the ramp again and stopped only inches from Gray. “She said...”

“She wants to be alone, I know. I just…” Gray trailed off.

“There's probably family there and stuff,” Ron muttered as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his cut offs.

“What happened?” Daniel asked and both boys turned to look at him as if they saw him for the first time.

“Nothin',” Ron snapped.

“Someone died,” Gray said at the same time.

Ron boxed his arm. “It's none of his business!”

Gray didn't even flinch. “'s not a secret.”

Ron scowled. “Yeah, it is. No one knows how it happened. Tell me how someone dies while working on deep space telemetry?”

Gray rolled his eyes. “It's all classified stuff. Who knows what they're really doing there.”

It was as if someone had poured a bucket of ice water over Daniel's head. The chill went right to his bones. Space telemetry was the cover story for what the Air Force was doing at Cheyenne Mountain. It wasn't even completely made up, since NORAD was located at the mountain, too. But as Ron had just pointed out, no one died while working on space telemetry.

“Who died?” He tried to sound more curious than shocked.

“Her cousin,” Gray said, easily dodging Ron's next smack. Then he turned back to his friend. “I'll go check on her.” Without another word he walked away.

“Oh, great,” Ron muttered and took off after him.

Daniel tugged at Flyboy's leash and followed them slowly.

He waited outside the center, pretending to fiddle with the lock of his bike, until Ron and Gray had jumped on their boards and turned the next street corner. Daniel followed them very carefully, always keeping his distance. But the older boys weren't looking back, they had to focus on their boards and traffic. Daniel trailed them for approximately ten minutes to a quiet neighborhood with standard bungalow styled homes which all looked somehow alike. Same sandy color, same chocolate brown window frames with shutters and front doors in the same color. Most of the fences were yellow and the streets were framed by old lime trees.

Daniel took post behind one of those trees and watched Ron and Gray as they left their boards in the driveway and, instead of going to the front door, entered the yard and rounded the house.

 _Okay,_ he thought, _what am I doing here, exactly?_

But he didn't move from the spot. He felt like he was on auto pilot. He observed the street; a small boy on a bike, an elderly woman with a fuzzy brown mutt – Flyboy's ears twitched and Daniel put a calming hand on his head – someone washing his car in the driveway of their house. The hum of a lawnmower and the smell of hot dogs. Ordinary Saturday high noon scenery. Normal life.

For Tara and her family life had stopped being normal yesterday.

Daniel could relate to that feeling so well and he felt an almost overwhelming need to be with her now, to let her know that, eventually, it would be okay again. Life would become normal again some day.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Ron and Gray leaving Tara's yard. The boys stepped on their boards and rolled down the street, slow and subdued. Daniel watched them turn the next corner together in perfect sync, the blond and black head disappearing from his view.

_If she doesn't even want to see her best friends, why would she want to see you?_

He ignored his nagging inner voice, tugged at the dog's leash and crossed the street. There were no noises coming from the house or the backyard, everything was quiet and he wondered if there was anybody home at all. He felt like an intruder as he stepped on the lawn and walked around the house. The back porch with its brown patio furniture was deserted, the doors were closed and all the blinds pulled down.

He spotted her lone figure lying on the Hollywood swing in a corner of the yard, underneath a lime tree. She stared at the apricot and white striped roof of the swing. She was clutching something in both hands, hugging it to her chest like a beloved treasure. A piece of cloth, Daniel couldn't tell what it was.

Not sure if she actually noticed him being there, Daniel stepped closer. He could do this. He had approached many weird and scary looking aliens to make first contact and forge relations. “Hey,” he said quietly.

She didn't look at him, but after a moment she said, “Go away.”

“I will. But,” he stroked the dog's silky head, “if you feel like talking or something…”

“Why would I want to talk to _you_?”

“I don't know. Maybe you don't. But Gray told me what happened and I know what it's like. I can listen. I'm good at that. I just...” He bit his lip and shuffled his feet. “I just wanted to say that you're not alone.” He turned and started walking away, suddenly embarrassed. She hardly knew him, why would she even want to talk to him?

He had almost reached the corner of the house, when she spoke again. “I didn't know you have a dog.”

He turned around and walked back to where she was still lying on the swing. But now she was looking at him, her eyes red rimmed and puffy, her hair even more tousled than usual. Daniel unlocked the leash from the collar and watched as dog and girl made first contact. Tara understood the universal language of dogs and within a moment Flyboy was licking her hands and, when she finally moved and sat up, he put his head into her lap and let her pet him.

“Tara, Flyboy – Flyboy, Tara,” he introduced them properly.

Something like a grin crossed her face. “We call our dachshund _the General_.” A shadow fell over her face. “My mom took him with her to my aunt's. Marie loves to play with the General. They think it'll distract her.”

Marie. Marc Winter's little sister was called Marie. Daniel swallowed hard.

“Everyone says that distraction is good. To go on with life, to keep busy.” Tara fondled Flyboy's ears.

“Taking time to grieve is hard,” Daniel said. “You keep busy until you're ready to face it.”

“No one asked Marc if he was ready to face it when he died.”

“No, probably not.” He sat down beside her and after a moment they started swinging gently. Around them birds were having conversations and the smell of hot dogs had become more intense. Another lawnmower had joined the first one.

Daniel was in that familiar vacuum with her, feeling her pain, cut off from that outside world with birds and sunshine. He wanted to tell her what had happened, how Marc had died. Even with no detailed intel he at least knew when it had happened and where.

And he couldn't. He shouldn't even tell her he had known Marc. Not well, but still...

She pulled something out from behind her back, the piece of cloth she'd been hugging when he'd come into the yard. It was a bandana. Much like the ones BD sometimes wore in the field. It was the same olive green, matching the color of their BDU.

“Major Dixon gave it to my aunt. It was in his locker. I asked if I could have it.” She started pulling the folded fabric apart, then twisted it around her wrists.

“You could wear it,” Daniel suggested. He had never seen Marc wear a bandana, but then he'd never been off world with him and had only seen him in briefings.

She gazed at her hands, at the bandana wound tightly around her wrists now. She loosened it, turning her wrists this and that way until the cloth came off again. She balled it up between her palms.

Suddenly she looked directly at him as if she was only truly acknowledging his presence now. “Your uncle… Daniel. Doctor J. He works at the mountain, right?”

“Yeah.”

“And he's good with languages.”

“Yes.”

She stared at the bandana around her wrists. “If I don't go there first, Larry will dig it out and sell it somehow,” she mumbled.

Daniel had no idea what she was talking about, but he had a feeling he would find out soon enough. So he just waited until she had worked through her thought process.

She pulled her bottom lip in and bit down on it. “There's something I gotta do.”

“Okay.” He knew he had just agreed to something more than to sit with her for a while.

“Does your phone have a good camera? You do have a phone, right?”

He frowned. “Yeah, sure, but...”

“C'mon.” Suddenly recharged she gently pushed Flyboy aside, jumped up and ran.

“O-kay,” Daniel drawled and followed her out of the yard and across the driveway into the open garage.

She went straight to a row of shelves in the back, stacked with old flower pots and garden tools. She moved several pots aside to reach the ones behind them. When she turned one of the smaller pots over, something fell out of it and into her palm. She grinned and held up a set of car keys. “My brother always keeps his spare set here.”

With growing unease he glanced at the silver Toyota Prius, the only car in the double garage. “You can't...”

She shook her head impatiently. “Do you want to come along or not?”

“Come along… where?”

“You'll see.”

“We could take our bikes...”

“It's too far away for bikes,” she cut him off. Then she seemed to remember something because she sprinted towards a door. “I'll be right back. Wait or go, I don't have time for this.” The door slammed shut behind her, leaving Daniel befuddled in the dim room.

The garage had to be connected to the house. He could hear her run up stairs, then nothing for a couple of minutes until a door slammed and she came down again, opened the door and burst through. She showed him a battered leather bound notebook. “Got it.”

“Got what?” Curiosity took over pretty quickly now. “Where are we going?”

She opened the Prius' and climbed into the driver's seat. “It's a secret.” She opened the glove compartment and shoved the notebook inside. “I can drive, you know?”

That put Daniel into motion. He was by her side and pulled the key out of the ignition as soon as she had stuck it in. “You're not driving.”

She grabbed for his arm, but he pulled away fast.

“I can drive. My brother taught me,” she snapped and came after him. “You can come or stay, but I have to do this.”

“Do WHAT?” His hand clutched the key and he twisted away easily when she tried to get a hold on him.

Beside him Flyboy started growling deep into his throat. “Shh, it's okay,” Daniel shushed him.

“I have to go up there before Larry gets it. Marc didn't want Larry to mess with it, but now that he's… he's… gone… Larry won't give a damn about what Marc wanted.” She was furious now. “Give me the fucking keys!” She pushed him, hard, and his back hit the shelf at the wall. Flower pots went tumbling down in all directions. Flyboy started barking and Daniel sidestepped and dove away under her arm.

The loud clatter and the dog's loud barks somehow stopped her outburst and she stared at the mess they had created.

“Mom's gonna kill me,” she groaned.

“She's gonna kill your for _this_?” Daniel waved at the scattered flower pots everywhere. “What's she gonna do if she finds out you took the car? What if you have an accident? Kill us or someone else?”

“I can drive,” she insisted, voice rising again. “Larry taught me how to drive last summer.”

“And have you been driving since then?”

“No, but...” And then, with a sudden move she snatched the keys out of his hand and sprinted back to the Prius, jumped in and slammed the door.

Angry at himself for not seeing this coming Daniel hammered against the window. “Tara, don't! I’ll call someone who can drive us!” He flipped his phone open to call Josh. Or whoever was available.

Tara started the Prius. Plastic pots crunched beneath the wheels as the car jumped forward. Then she found the reverse gear and it jumped backwards and started rolling out of the garage way too fast.

Daniel shut his phone down, whistled for the dog and tried to get to the other side of the car. He couldn't let her do this alone. Whatever she wanted to do. He couldn't let her drive on her own. “Okay, okay,” he yelled. “Wait!”

When she stepped on the brakes Daniel almost covered his eyes with both hands, expecting her to crash into a fence post. But the Prius came to a swift stop in the middle of the driveway and he approached it, opened the back door to let the dog in and then he slipped into the passenger seat.

He hadn't even fully closed the door when she started the car again and pushed out of the driveway. She didn't slam into the trashcans on her way out, but there was a bang just as she switched gears and started down the street. When Daniel looked back over his shoulder he realized she had hit the wooden post of the mailbox.

He quickly put his seatbelt on.

“Shit,” Tara hissed, “Larry's gonna kill me if I put bumps in his car.”

“They’ll have to get in line to kill you,” Daniel mumbled.

“Har har.” The car shot forward. Tara's small hands gripped the steering wheel hard. “I've got this,” she muttered. “I've got this.”

“Look, you can't drive. Let me call a friend...”

“No.” She turned the corner too fast. “I can't get anyone else involved in this. I shouldn't even get you into this, you're just a kid.”

Suddenly the cat was there.

It was sitting in the middle of the street, red and white stripes, deeply focused on cleaning itself.

Daniel yelled, “Brakes!”

Tara jumped on it.

The dog started barking.

The car lurched and bucked, the brakes screeched and finally it came to a sudden stop.

Tara let go of the steering wheel as if she had burnt her fingers. She slapped her hands over her face. “Shit shit shit. Is it dead?”

Daniel took several deep breaths. “No, it ran.” he finally gasped and opened his seat belt to check on his dog. Flyboy was cowering on the backseat, clearly startled, but okay.

 _He could've been hurt._ That realization made him sick to the stomach.

It also cleared his head.

“We can't stay here.” He reached over and pulled out the key.

Tara sat motionless, a tear trickling down her face.

Daniel sighed and got out of the car. It had been a while since he'd truly felt like the grown up he used to be. Right now it wasn't a good feeling though. He went to her side and opened the door. “Tara, could you please go in the back and keep an eye on the dog?” He kept his voice low and gentle, seeing the pain she was in. Not physical pain, but the pain that ate your soul. He knew that it wasn't so much the shock over almost killing the cat that had her so shaken, but the shock triggering a much deeper well of emotions in connection with her cousin's death.

Small things triggering bigger things. PTSD.

She looked at him, more tears glittering in her emerald eyes. “I have to go up there.”

“Okay. Okay, but we are parked in the middle of the street and that's not good.”

Daniel quickly checked if anyone was paying attention to them yet, but the street was still and peaceful, no one showed up on their porch or lawn to see what was going on with the two kids and the Prius.

“I almost killed that cat,” she whispered.

“But you didn't. Look, I can drive. I'll park the car and we'll figure something out. Just...” He stepped aside. “Please?”

To his utter amazement she did what he had asked her to. He didn't know her very well, but what he had seen of her so far was a strong, independent and impulsive personality. She knew what she wanted and whatever that was, she got it done. He had a feeling she would be totally mortified over this moment of weakness later.

With a huff of relief he got into the Prius, moved the seat into a position that suited him, put the seatbelt on and started the engine. Suddenly he had a second of panic attack right there. What if he'd forgotten how to drive? He hadn't driven in five years… but the moment passed, he put the car into gear and the Prius continued smoothly down the street.

He glanced into the rear view mirror. Tara had her arms wrapped around the dog's neck. She was still pale, but didn't appear so shocked anymore.

“Where are we going?” Daniel asked.

“Pike's Peak.”

“Um, it's a four hour drive to Pike's Peak.”

“Not all the way to Pike's Peak. Just the general direction.”

He should find a parking space and call Josh. It was the grown up thing to do, right? Right. But this felt too good to stop. He was driving. Before he knew it they were on Pike's Peak Avenue, heading northwest to South Nevada Avenue…

Daniel knew he was probably grinning like a loon, but he couldn't help it. He kept a watchful eye on the speedometer to make sure he wasn't going too fast, but he was itching to go faster and celebrate this in style by taking the curves recklessly and speeding up on straight roads.

Of course he didn't do any of that.

And he stayed off the highways, winding his way through back roads instead. He knew the general direction to Pike's Peak and he hoped he wasn't too far off. He couldn't risk being seen by a patrol.

He had gotten them as far as Gold Camp Road when Tara asked the inevitable question. “Why can you drive like this? You're, what… ten?”

“Twelve.” Well, not yet, but he decided a week was almost as good as already being twelve.

“Tough. Who taught you?” She sounded annoyed now. Daniel guessed that was a good thing. She was getting back to being herself again.

“Jack,” Daniel said without thinking. And added, “My foster dad.”

“Your dad lets you drive. Yeah, right.”

“He does. Not on public roads though.” It was an easy lie and a hilarious one, considering the fact that Jack would go ballistic if he knew Daniel was driving.

“Why would he do that, eh?”

“Because he's a cool guy.”

Tara snorted.

They drove in silence for a while. Daniel still felt a bit high, almost drunk, with this feeling of being behind a wheel again. He had always liked to drive. He wasn't big into cars in particular, but he liked the actual act of driving, letting the landscape slide by, having his hands on the wheel, his foot on the pedal, the control over the vehicle. And right now it felt like being able to move again after being disabled for years.

Finally Tara guided him on a Forest Service Road and soon they were surrounded by sandy rocks and trees and the pavement turned into dirt. The Prius didn't mind, it purred along nicely even when the ground became a little bumpy.

“Are you going to tell me where we're going?” Daniel glanced at his watch. It was going on 13:00. He had to send a text soon to keep Jack updated on what he was doing and where he was. And if he didn't make it home in time for dinner he really needed a good excuse for that.

“It's a sacred place,” Tara said from the back seat. “An abandoned place. Larry, Marc and I found it this spring. They used to go places hunting a lot last summer. I always wanted to come along, but they kept saying I was too young. This year they finally took me with them a couple of times.”

“Cool.” Again, Daniel thought this could be a great thing to do for him, Jack and BD. Maybe in the fall. Maybe next year. Maybe… who knew.

“Knights Peak. We're going to Knights Peak.” Tara said.

Daniel had never been to Knights Peak before. He had hiked the Gardens of the Gods and Pike's Peak and the area around Cheyenne Mountain when they had walked the dog, but that was about it.

The road went uphill and became narrower, but thankfully there was no oncoming traffic. It seemed it was just them out here this Saturday, which was strange. From what he knew going to the mountains was a popular weekend activity. Tara led him off the road on a mere dirt track and it got a little more bumpy.

When she told him to stop they were somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Daniel wasn't even sure this was an actual parking lot. It was more like a sandy space surrounded by trees.

Tara, apparently recharged and recovered from the earlier near-accident, took her notebook from the glove department, jumped out of the car and opened the trunk. To Daniel's surprise she retrieved a backpack. She stuffed the book into one of the side pockets and then tossed the pack at him. “Carry that.”

Curious, he opened the zipper and found a large bottle of water, a space blanket, some power bars and a small first aid bag in it. “Wow, you're always prepared, huh?” He shouldered the pack and adjusted the straps.

“Marc and Larry always keep this in the car. If they wanna go hiking...” She trailed off. “When they wanted to… when they used to...” She slammed the trunk shut. “Crap.”

Daniel locked the car and pocketed the keys securely in his jeans. “What are we looking for?”

Tara wiped an angry hand across her face and he pretended not to see another tear slide down her cheek. Her voice was steady when she replied, “First we have to hike.”

Without waiting for an answer, she marched ahead, resolutely finding her way to a small path between boulders, tree roots and scrubs.

“I guess we are free to follow,” Daniel said to the dog and, with a resigned shrug and driven by a sudden inner restlessness, he quickly went after her.

Flyboy thought this was a great adventure. He kept running back and forth between the two humans, then ran ahead a little bit before he returned to make sure they were still following. Daniel watched his antics and thought it had been way too long since they had taken the dog on a long hike.

This was probably just what they both needed. He found a suitable stick, picked it up and threw it. As he watched his companion chase after it a knot seemed to loosen in his chest.

He sucked in the warm air, the smell of green trees, rich soil and sunshine. The rocks around them had a bit of a pink touch which was not unusual in this area. Had something to do with minerals inside the rocks.

He watched the girl he barely knew march ahead of him with squared shoulders and wide determined steps. He still wondered where she was taking him. But as they walked on uphill, the quiet presence of the forest took away more and more of his tension and his steps became lighter the further she led him into the wilderness of Colorado.


	5. Rainbow Warriors Chapter V

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Daniel go on a walk...

**V**

“We found the seventh rune.” Daniel handed prints of the photo he had taken to Jack, Sam and Teal'c. “It's different from the other ones we found.”

Jack tried not to snap, but he hadn't slept much and he was still a bit pissed at Daniel for trying to tamper with his schedule. _And why can't he just get to the point anyway?_ “Different, you say… different, how? Aside from the fact that there is no eighth chevron on it.” Which meant the gate address they had hoped to get out of those runes was a total bust.

Ignoring Jack's remark about the missing eighth chevron, Daniel explained, “The runes we collected so far are all connected to elements and general locations. Snow. Mountains. Water. Fire. Under the Earth. And the one from this morning; Heavenly body. This one, however,” Daniel tapped a finger against his own copy. “says; Ark on a sterling throne.”

Jack rubbed a tired hand over his gritty eyes. “Just that? Ark? Ark as in…?”

“Throne?” Carter shook her head.

Daniel cleared his throat. “Well, if we go by the biblical term it could be a… a ship. Or a vessel, maybe a space ship. The 'sterling throne' might be where it's located, docked, whatever.”

“But you don't know.” There was a scowl directed at him. “Daniel?”

Jack saw his shoulders slump. He hated that look on him. Defeat never looked good on any of them, but it was a particularly bad look on Daniel. Because it happened so rarely. “No. I don't know.”

“You've been chasing runes for what… weeks? And all we get is... runes and riddles.”

Jack knew he was a being a jerk, but he had to vent his frustration somewhere. There hadn't been any news on Gerak's whereabouts, the anti-prior gun was still on the drawing board, Daniel's little extra jaunt through the gate hadn't blessed them with new allies. Little D. had sent him a very sketchy text twenty minutes ago about spending his day hanging out with a girl from the Rainbow Center. When Jack had texted him back to get more intel he hadn't gotten a reply.

There was only so much of a bad day Jack could take without getting a bit bitchy.

“Oh yes, I know, it's all _myth and fairytales_ to you,” Daniel sniped back.

“Dragons? Sangraal? Merlin?” Jack countered.

Daniel placed his notes on the table and gave Jack an icy stare, but his voice was light, almost cheerful. “What's next, Jack? You calling me rune boy?”

“Well, it's... it's something,” Carter cut in, probably in a desperate attempt to keep things calm. “We're looking for a ship on a planet with snowy mountains and water. Maybe it's at the bottom of a lake.”

“Underground. Under the Earth,” Teal'c said. After a moment of thought he added, “A volcano possibly.”

“Fire. Yes.” Daniel stared at his runes, apparently deep in thought.

“Where a ship is sitting on a throne.” Teal'c frowned. “Either a very small ship or a very large throne.”

“It's probably a metaphor. The throne and ship thing,” Daniel murmured.

“We could run an environmental scan of all the planets we've been to, to see if there's a match,” Carter suggested, then sighed. “Or a hundred matches.”

“We do not know if Merlin hid this ark on a planet we have already encountered,” Teal'c pointed out.

Jack wanted to bang his head against the briefing room table. “Run a scan anyway,” he ordered.

“Yes, sir.” Carter stacked her notes and glanced at her watch.

Jack opened his mouth to ask her when was the last time she'd slept, but decided to just put his foot down. “Tell Walter to run that scan and get some rest. That's an order, Colonel“

“Sir, the prototype...”

He stood and stretched sore back muscles. “Three hours of sleep. And if Doctor Lee didn't go home last night that order goes for him, too.”

He could literally see her swallowing down whatever it was she wanted to say. With a curt, “Yes, sir.” she rushed out. Daniel followed suit.

Jack looked at Teal'c. “Is there anything I can do to annoy you, too, T?”

The Jaffa's mouth twitched. “Young Daniel told me spending time at the SGC gym helps him to deal with unresolved anger, O'Neill.”

“Ye-ah. Hey, wanna beat me up a bit in the boxing ring?” Jack used to work out with Teal'c a lot when he'd still been on SG-1. They had engaged in boxing which always left Jack with minor bruises and hurt pride. But it had been fun and a good challenge. They had done training sessions in hand-to-hand on the mat, too, which had left Jack with as many bruises as the boxing. He missed that. Not the bruises, but the challenge, the adrenaline, the fact that he could tackle Teal'c with all he had without having to worry about hurting him. Teal'c was like a rock.

“As much as I would love to, I cannot,” Teal'c said smoothly. “I must return to Dakara to see if there is word about Gerak. I am sure DanielJackson would be happy to beat you up, O'Neill.”

Jack grimaced. Then again, maybe he should just do that. Drag Daniel to the gym so that they could go at one another for a round of hand-to-hand. He mostly worked out with Daniel these days and while Daniel wasn't Teal'c – very few at the SGC were on par with Teal'c – he and Jack were pretty much equal, had been equal for years. Lately Daniel was taking Jack down on the mat more often than not though and while Jack was fine with being no match for Teal'c, he had to admit it was a different thing with Daniel. Not a big deal, just… .

 _Not getting any younger here,_ he thought wearily.

He checked his phone to see if the kid had replied to his questions about where exactly he was spending the day and with whom? A girl? BD had told him about a girl from the center Daniel seemed to like. Tara? Terra? Jack clearly remembered LD not wanting to talk about said girl and he didn't have the impression she featured a lot in the kid's life.

Apparently that was going to change now.

Jack glared at his silent phone. No blinking light to indicate he had a message or a call.

He made sure Walter was no where in sight to remind him of this or that to sign, read or of his next phone conference with HWS or the IOA. When all was clear Jack was on his way to Daniel's office.

He found him in the archeological lab staring at those damn runes. He had put the photos under an overhead projector so that they were enlarged and displayed in a row on the white board.

Jack stepped beside him. “ _Rune boy_?”

Daniel shrugged. “It'd be a logical continuance of book boy, plant boy, geek boy...”

“In case you haven't noticed, I haven’t called you boy-anything in years. But it's a good one, actually. I can put it on my list of endearments.”

“Don't even think about it.” Daniel pinched the bridge of his nose and finally looked at Jack. “I might have, uh, over reacted a little there.”

“Ya think?”

“Actually, the right reply to that would be; Yes, Daniel, so have I and I'm sorry.”

“Yeah, but that would be awfully grown-up and civilized.”

“Boring?”

“Not like us.”

“Right.” Daniel waved at the enlarged runes. “THIS is driving me nuts. I know the answer is somewhere in there and I can't see it.”

“There are two more left to find, right?” Jack tried to be helpful here, he really tried.

“Yeah.”

“You really think this is leading somewhere?”

“Yes, Jack, I really do think that.” The frustration was all over his face, all in his voice.

Jack clapped his broad back, feeling the play of strong muscles under the palm of his hand. He let it linger, just for a moment, then moved it upwards to the taut neck and squeezed gently before he dropped it. “I sent Carter to her quarters so she can look at the anti-prior gun with fresh eyes later. I'm not going to order you to go to sleep, but I want you to stop looking at this right now.”

Daniel closed his eyes and gently massaged his eyelids with one finger of each hand. “Jack...”

“...and put your glasses on. Your eyes are puffy.”

“I've been wearing them since… oh.” Daniel frowned.

Jack shook his head. He'd bet good money Daniel had gone to bed last night without bothering to take out his contacts. _That's what happens when you're not staying with me, buddy_.

“And then you take a walk with me,” Jack ended his little speech.

Daniel blinked, his eyebrows doing the V crinkle. “Walk.”

“Yes. As in on the surface, where the sun is, blue skies, fresh air.” Where there were no surveillance cameras to spy on them. Where they could be 'off the record' for a while.

“Now?” He looked around. “Is the dog with you? Does he need to go out?”

“Nope, he's with the kid. And speaking of said kid… what do you know about the girl he's made friends with at that center?”

“Tara? Why?”

Jack put his hand on Daniel's back again and gave him a little nudge towards the door. They left the lab and went down the hallway to his office. “Because apparently she and mini-you are spending the day together.”

“LD and Tara? What?” Daniel opened the top drawer of his desk and retrieved his glasses case and the small container for his contact lenses. “He keeps telling me he doesn't want to hang out with Tara or any of the other kids.” He sat down and quickly replaced the contacts with his glasses. “I actually think it'd be good for him to find some distraction, some friends outside the mountain in his free time. But he totally balks at that.” He grimaced. “I should've known he would. It's probably a stupid idea to try and get him to socialize with other kids.”

“Well, I don't know. Apparently he changed his mind.”

“Strange. What are they doing?” Daniel pushed the glasses up his nose and tossed the lenses container into his drawer instead.

“I have no clue.”

“He didn't tell you?”

“Nope. Here.” Jack showed Daniel his phone with the sketchy message.

“I'm with a girl from the center, taking your advice and having fun on my day off, LD,” Daniel read out loud. “It's a bit cryptic.”

“Yep.” When Little Daniel was going out on his own he had to tell either Jack or BD where he went and with whom. It was a hard and fast rule, one of those few non-negotiable things they had established years ago.

Daniel handed the phone back. “Don't worry about it. He's probably still a bit mad at you for forcing him to take the day off. I bet they're at the center. Maybe she's teaching him how to skate. Tara is a pro on her board. I know her, she's a cool kid.”

Jack squinted at his phone one last time before putting it away. He'd have words with his little D. But first he had to have words with the grown up version. “Let's go.” As an afterthought he said, “I'm hungry. You got any snacks?”

Daniel opened his desk and pulled out a bag of Cheeto Cheese Puffs.

“Nice,” Jackc drawled.

They were both quiet on the way to the surface. Jack had expected far more resistance from Daniel's side. Because Daniel was like a dog with a bone on those runes and not being able to solve the riddle was driving him up the wall.

But there was more and it was time to get to the bottom of it.

And maybe Daniel was ready to talk about what kept eating away at him aside from the runes, the Ori and the 10-15 hour days he'd been plowing through for god knew how long.

Or maybe he felt guilty enough for trying to slip under Jack's radar and get more trips through the gate than he was supposed to, that he had decided to humor him.

They left the mountain complex through one of several side exits that looked like small storage houses from the outside. They crossed the helicopter airfield and took a sandy beaten path into the forest. It was their standard dog walking route.

After ten minutes of swift walking they reached the clearing. It was Flyboy's playground where his humans obliged in throwing sticks and balls for him. There was a small creek over where the trees became more dense. The dog liked to splash around in it.

Jack and Daniel settled on one of the huge dead tree trunks, side by side, knees touching.

“Cheetos?” Daniel asked and rustled with the bag.

Jack took it, opened it and dug in. “Ah, there's nothing like cheezy comfort food.” He offered the bag to Daniel who shook his head and leaned back on his elbows, settling his head against the stacked trunks behind them. Turning his face to the sun he closed his eyes for a moment. “This is nice.”

“It's called daylight.”

“Yeah, I heard about that.”

Jack popped another Cheeto into his mouth, chewed and licked his lips. “This stuff is great.”

Daniel snorted. “You're so easy.”

“Ah, but it's the little things in life we have to cherish, Daniel.”

“Oh, that's deep.” Daniel kept his eyes closed. The afternoon sun caressed his face, but it also underlined how beat he looked. The stubble on his chin was dark against his pale skin. He had lost weight, too, his features were more angular, harder and the frown line between his eyes seemed to have edged itself permanently into his face.

Jack had seen him like this countless times before. Whenever Daniel worked himself into a state of constant over caffeinated exhaustion for days or weeks he got like this. The time for recharge was long overdue and Jack took the blame for letting it slide, mainly because he and most of the SGC staff had gotten to the same stage quite a while ago.

The Ori weren’t taking a break in their goal to take over the galaxy which meant they couldn't take a break from trying to find a solution, a way to beat them.

But Jack had also allowed them to drift apart, had been caught up in the Ori mess so much that he hadn't stepped on the brakes when Daniel started to withdraw.

He had brought them out here to get answers, to demand explanations, to crack the shell Daniel had built around himself. They were both so damn good at building those shells and shutting out the other one sometimes. They kept working on not doing that anymore, but old bad habits were hard to shake.

 _Don't let him slip away_ , LD had said two days ago. And it had really been the wake up call Jack needed.

So, yeah, he had come out here to verbally slap Daniel upside the head and get them back on track.

Now, looking at him all Jack wanted to do was hold him. Just that. And then, later, maybe more than that. “Remember the last time we made out?”

Daniel's eyelids fluttered, opened and revealed confused blue eyes. “What?”

“Exactly.” Jack closed the Cheeto bag and put it aside.

“You took me out here for some hanky panky?” Daniel blinked into the sunlight. “That's nuts. We can't do that here. Too risky.”

Jack sighed. Always the voice of reason that Doctor Jackson. “I know that,” he said, irritated. “But I never get to see you anywhere but _here_ anymore.”

“I was home for dinner...”

“...bitching at me about forgotten garlic...”

“It was a crappy day.”

“All our days are crap lately, Daniel. We're working our asses off getting nowhere, we go home and fight, you leave, we start over the next day… yadda...”

Daniel sat up, resting his elbows on his knees, hunched over, staring at the sun burnt yellow grass. “It's just a phase, it'll get better.”

“When? How? Sooner or later a prior will show up and give us the ultimate choice to either follow or die.”

“Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that what we're trying to prevent from happening?” Daniel's voice was strained with suppressed anger.

“Yeah, and what if we can't?”

“Then humanity is going to hell and all our efforts were for nothing. Thanks for the pep talk.”

“And we're going to be the first ones to go because we'll die trying to fight them off til the very end. Carter, Teal'c, pretty much everyone at the mountain.” Jack sensed how close Daniel was to eruption and he kept plowing on relentlessly. “You. Me. Little D.”

Daniel slid off the trunk, turned and faced Jack with a blazing glare, “What the hell is your point, Jack?! You want us to just give up? Is that it?”

“No.”

Daniel abruptly turned his back on Jack, his arms tightly coming around himself. This self-hugging thing had always gotten under Jack's skin. It had featured less and less in the Daniels' body language over the years. But on the few occasions either Daniel reverted back to it, it still stirred the overwhelming need to go over there and just hug them. Tight. But he knew Daniel well enough not to invade his personal space right now.

“I want you to keep living your life. Our life. I want you… I want _us_ to make an effort to find pockets of time to be together. To have quality family time. Because if we let the Ori take away 'us' they have already won.” He stepped closer until he was standing directly behind Daniel. “Don't shut me out.”

Daniel tipped his head back and stared into the incredibly blue sky. “I'm not good company right now, Jack.”

“You're always the right company for me. Birds of a feather and all that.”

Daniel let out a breath. “There's no 'I' in 'us'?”

“Something like that, yeah.”

“I'm so angry all the damn time,” Daniel blurted out. “It's hard to… not lash out at random people all the time.”

“That bad, huh?” Jack knew a thing or two about that. “Headaches?”

“Nail in the head.”

“Daniel...”

“I'm taking Tylenol.”

“For breakfast, lunch and dinner?”

There was a mulish silence that lasted several seconds until Daniel finally loosened the tight hold on himself and leaned back, knowing Jack was there, right behind him. It was good to feel Daniel's heavy weight against his chest.

Jack laid his forehead against the back of Daniel's head, inhaling deeply the scent of his shampoo mixed with that faint fragrance of coffee and paper dust he always associated with his lover.

“I know I'm not taking care of myself. I don't sleep, I eat too much junk, I drink too much coffee. I'm taking too much Tylenol,” Daniel muttered.

“Doing all the bad Daniel things...” Jack kissed the base of Daniel's neck. He couldn't resist.

“Yep, doing all thebad Daniel things. And what you're doing right now is pretty bad, too. Some people come up here to smoke or take a walk...”

With regret Jack stepped back. “We're all angry.”

They had gone through phases like this countless times before. Anger, grief, pain. All the fallouts of the job they were doing. Usually they coped somehow. Had learned to live with it. There was something else here, though. Something much deeper than being angry at the universe, the Ori, the heavens, whatever.

“Ye-ah,” Daniel said as he turned around to face him again. “You know, when I opened the gate and let the Goa'uld through I only accelerated the process of what would probably have happened anyway at some point because the Goa'uld were already in our galaxy. Letting the Ori in opened a whole new can of worms.”

 _What?_ “What?”

“'A present which seems valuable but which in reality is a curse' A treasure that turned out to be a source of any and unexpected trouble. That's from Pandora's Box. Pandora opened a jar containing death and many other evils which were then released into the world. Because she couldn't tame her curiosity, she _had_ to know what was inside.”

Jack grabbed Daniel's shoulders and spun him around, hard. “You. Are. Not. Pandora.”

“Well, I lack the beauty and female parts...”

“Guilt, Daniel? That's what this is all about?” He should have known, though. It was such a Daniel thing. Jack shook his head. “Don't…”

“ _I_ opened the chamber to Merlin's treasure. _I_ used the communicator stones. _I_ let them in, Jack. I opened the door for the Ori to get a foothold in our galaxy.”

“SG-1 opened that chamber and there was no way you could've known what was going to happen when you used the stones.”

“I could've been more careful. You’ve been telling me to be more careful for years.”

“I gave you the green light to use those damn stones.”

“I talked you into letting me use them.”

“For cryin' out loud, Daniel…”

“Look, I KNOW it's not my fault, I know it was an unfortunate series of events. We win some, we lose some, no pain no gain. I KNOW that. But knowing that here,” Daniel tapped the side of his head, “doesn't change how part of me feels about it here.” He smacked a hand over his heart. “You're not out there, Jack. You don't get to watch all those people die. Innocent people. Good people, like Marc...”

“That I'm not out there now, doesn't mean I don't remember being out there,” Jack said, voice hard. “And believe me, right now NOT being out there with you guys is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Being bound to that desk and being only the audience while good men and women go through that gate and die... Every time you and SG-1 go out there I'm...” Jack jerked his eyes away from Daniel and gritted his teeth.

Daniel took a calming deep breath. “I know.” Suddenly he started walking away, throwing a, “Come on.” over his shoulder.

“What?” But he was already following suit.

They headed straight to the treeline and into the diffuse shadows of green leaves and sturdy branches. They broke through small scrubs, going deeper into the forest until Daniel stepped behind an old maple tree where they were shielded from curious eyes.

“It's not so much the guilt itself,” he said quietly, “it's more the fact that every thing we tried, every way we go, we're running into dead ends. It's not being able to fix what we've done.”

“Yeah. I get that.” Jack didn't agree with Daniel's view on who was at fault here, but he could relate to the feeling. And to the need to fix things.

“We're running out of hope. And that's...” Daniel shook his head.

“Scary.”

“Yeah.”

Jack had a sudden flashback to standing on a balcony in Atlantis and feeling like falling apart any moment, that he was going to lose it. Daniel had pulled him back from that edge. It's what they did, what they were good at. Life had bent and dented them in many places, but when it came down to it they were stronger than that.

“You're right, though.” Daniel's eyes softened, causing the hard edges around his mouth to soften, too. “If we let them take away our life they’ve won.”

“The little things,” Jack whispered, raising a hand to brush over the fading bruise on Daniel's face.

“Family.”

Jack opened his arms and Daniel moved into them. “I've got ya,” Jack murmured into his ear. They hugged fiercely, almost bone crushingly. “And I can help with the anger issues,” Jack offered, husky voice. Rough sex had always been one way for them to blow off steam and deal with rage and frustration. They just matched perfectly in their needs and it helped to get things out of their system.

Daniel huffed a laugh against Jack's neck, probably the first laugh Jack had heard from him in weeks if not months. “Going all kinky with the kid in the house? I don't think so.”

“We'll think of something.” It was a promise.

Jack put his hands on Daniel's shoulders and moved them a couple of inches apart. “Here's the deal, Doctor Jackson. I'm going to put you back on the schedule for those two missions tomorrow.”

Daniel winced. “Yeah, about that...”

“We need those missing runes,” Jack cut him off. “So, you go get them. After a good night's sleep in _our_ bed and a real breakfast.”

“I can do that.”

“I'll cook you dinner tonight, too.” Jack made it sound like a warning and it had the desired affect – a lopsided grin appeared on Daniel's tired face.

Reluctantly they let go of each other and walked back across the clearing, keeping close, elbows touching, until they reached the airfield and moved further apart.

But the rift was already beginning to close and Jack felt much lighter suddenly. Now, if LD had the decency to be in touch...

He pulled his phone from his pants pocket and grimaced.

“No message?” BD raised his eyebrow.

“Nope.”

“He's fine. He's just having fun. Isn't that exactly what you wanted?”

“Usually if Daniel starts dodging questions or when he's being sketchy about his whereabouts he's up to something,” Jack muttered.

“You can always track him via his transplant...” Daniel's eyebrows wandered over the rim of his glasses.

“I promised him I'd only do that if there's an emergency. But he better make it home in time for dinner. I need to touch base with him more often,” Jack muttered. “I took this promotion because I wanted to be available whenever he needs me. Right now I'm spending less time with him than I did when I was still going off world.”

“I'm as much at fault here as you are,” Daniel said quietly. “Not a big contribution to the family here. You're right – we need to make the time. For us, for him.”

“Carter and Teal'c, too,” Jack added.

“Hey, did you ask Pete about the cake?” Daniel asked as they entered the mountain through the inconspicuous gray steel door.

“Yeah. He's happy to make one, two-story Death by Chocolate, right?”

“God, yeah. If I have to have a birthday cake it has to be Death by Chocolate.” Daniel sighed and Jack couldn't smother a grin. Daniel frowned. “I still don't get why we can't just celebrate LD's birthday and forget that it's my birthday, too.” He brought that up every single year.

“Because LD insists you need birthday parties, too. And because I agree with him. And because you know you love the cake and the bubbly and the BBQ.” Jack rubbed his hands in anticipation. “The Ori better not decide to come down on us on your birthday because I intend to invite everyone, have a team night, and anyone who even mentions the Ori will be shot.”

“Ouch.” But Daniel's eyes were sparkling. Something else Jack hadn't seen in a while.

They took the elevator down to the underground levels.

As soon as they entered level 18, Doctor Lee came running down the hallway towards them. “General O'Neill, Doctor Jackson! The prototype is almost finished! But I need Colonel Carter for the last steps to..”

Jack waved him off. “Go!”


	6. Rainbow Warriors Chapter VI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> LD finds the place he's been looking for and SG-1 goes prior hunting

**VI**

Daniel and Tara took turns throwing sticks for Flyboy and the dog wasn't slowing down yet. Daniel wasn't sure how high they were, but it had cooled off slightly, which was a good thing. Park rangers had probably cut a lane into the dense forest here years ago, but younger trees and scrubs were slowly taking back the space. Their path led them around groups of saplings and pine needles softened their steps. To either side of the wide lane were large boulders, covered in moss, high ferns and poison ivy.

They spotted several squirrels and the dog wanted to chase after them, but - much to his disappointment – wasn't allowed to. At one point they paused and listened to a woodpecker working away on its knothole.

“I love being out here,” Tara shared with him. “Everything seems so easy. There's no school, no rules, no trouble. Everything just _is_.”

Daniel knew exactly what she meant. With every mile they took he felt better, energized, less constricted.

“That abandoned place… is it native American?”

“Yeah. But Marc said it's something more. When we came here the first time we just did our thing, you know, we took pictures and tried to imagine what used to happen here. Larry is big into sacrifices, he insisted that some tribes sacrificed parts of animals as a thank you for a good hunt.”

“The Crow did. They burnt the tongue and some other parts of the animal they had hunted, to give some of what they took back to the Earth.”

“Yeah. So, Larry wanted to come back and start digging for bones and broken arrows or clay pieces. He said sometimes you find stuff like that. He had the idea to sell it on Ebay.”

Daniel thought he should probably tell her that selling or even taking away artifacts, no matter how small, from native American land, forests or park areas – literally any area that wasn't your own property – was illegal. But that wasn't important right now so he chose to be quiet and just listen, because he really wanted some answers.

Tara pulled one of those yucky strawberry gums from her jeans pocket, fiddled the wrapper off and popped it into her mouth. Thankfully she didn't offer one to Daniel. After a moment of chewing thoughtfully she continued, “We came back at the beginning of June when all the snow was gone. We brought a shovel and a brush. The brush was Marc's idea. He said he'd seen that on TV, how it works, brushing off dirt from artifacts.”

Daniel was pretty sure Marc had learned about that while he watched BD or Doctor Meyers work in the field. Marc had always been curious about the archeological side of going off world. BD had said Marc always took over being the 'watchdog' of the civilians and that he'd been interested in their work and asked lots of questions.

“Did you find anything?” But he had a feeling he already knew the answer to that and suddenly it dawned on him that, maybe, they had found something… big?

And then their path took a left turn and they rounded a rock outcrop.

Daniel stopped walking and just stood there, rooted to the spot.

The forest lane opened into a wide clearing, a meadow covered in dots of colors. Blue, lilac, white, yellow, red.

Daniel recognized Elephantheads with their weird shaped blossoms, resembling the head and ears of an elephant. He spotted red clover flowers, pink pom poms, and Paintbrush flowers in shiny orange. The whole meadow was blanketed in color, like a quilt.

But all the beauty laid out before him wasn't the reason he was paralyzed.

He had been here before.

Over and over again.

He had walked this very same meadow. He recognized the path, the way it wound itself through the flowers, took an uphill turn in the distance. He recognized the position of the rocks, their craggy rims and outlines.

His heart skipped a beat, then started racing.

He had found the place of his vision, dream, whatever it was.

“What happened when you came back here?” he asked, his voice strained to his own ears.

“Are you okay? You look spooked.” She glanced at him.

“Fine.” He started walking again, putting one foot in front of the other, on auto pilot, suppressing the need to run up that hill, to see if he was right. But he already knew he was, the familiarity of this place had struck like lightening.

“We found writings. I think they're native American, but I couldn't find any of those symbols on the internet, so I'm not sure. And I read that most native American tribes didn't even have a written language until much later… but Marc said the writings were really old, like from thousands of years ago.” She frowned. “I don't even know when the first tribes got to Colorado.” She threw up her hands. “Nothing makes sense here.”

“You wrote them down, right? That's what's in the notebook?”

“Yeah. But only part of them. Marc didn't like the idea. He said they might be magic spells or something and that we shouldn't meddle with that. He wanted us to leave right away, he got all antsy about it. Especially when Larry found the silver plate...”

“Silver plate?” Daniel echoed.

“It's underneath the stones. It has more writings. Symbols, glyphs, whatever.” Tara blew a bubble with her gum and it popped, a weird distorted small sound in the stillness of the mountains. “Larry wanted to dig it out and sell it. He's sure we found something big. He's like a Ferengi, you know, those guys from Star Trek with the huge bubble brains… anyway, he's got dollar signs in his eyes and Marc said he couldn't and they had a huge fight over it.”

“How… how did your cousin convince your brother not to dig up the plate?”

“Larry couldn't. Dig it up. It's stuck. He wanted to come back with a shovel or a pick, but Marc somehow convinced him not to. I don't know what happened. Larry was pissed with Marc for a while, but then he found a new obsession. He's now spending all his time restoring old motorcycles. Says he can make lots of bucks with that.” Tara shrugged. “Larry is big into money, you know. And he's got a girlfriend now.”

Daniel's mind was doing acrobatics to connect all the dots. Tara was spot on when she said most Native American tribes didn't have a written language. Had they stumbled over something Ancient? And if they had, why hadn't Winter reported it? It should have been the first thing to do.

They left the wildflowers behind and clambered uphill again on that narrow path Daniel had walked so often in his dream/vision. He knew every step, skipped over tree roots and small rocks. In his visions he had always come here alone and he had been barefoot, but those were the only differences he could make out. They had to walk around boulders and small dead trees a couple of times and the forest around them thinned out rapidly the higher they got.

And then they reached the top. It wasn't the highest point of Knights Peak, not even close, but they stood on a plateau looking out over the mountain terrain, a bizarre landscape of dark greens, gray and red.

Tara pointed at something in the distance. “That's Mount Vigil, and that,” she turned to the right, “is McKinley Peak.”

But Daniel only had eyes for the structure sitting smack in the middle of the plateau. It was built from the same pink rough granite rocks he had seen everywhere on their way up here. The rocks were arranged in a wide circle and a smaller circle within. Inside the smaller circle was a cross of smaller rocks – a medicine wheel - and a fire pit. He stepped closer to the cairn – an obelisk of piled stones in the middle of the cross, roughly hewn together and not much taller than Daniel himself - but couldn't see any writings.

Daniel lowered the backpack stepped into the larger circle and began walking around the smaller one.

Tara was still gazing at the structure when he reached her again. Daniel went over to the cairn and brushed a finger over the rough sun-warmed stone. “Where did you find those writings?”

“Oh.” She shook herself out of her thoughts and joined him. “It's the weirdest thing you've ever seen, so don't freak, okay?” She pressed her palm against one stone that was darker in color than the others, almost purple. At first nothing happened and she pushed and rubbed at the stone a little harder.

Only when the surface of the larger stones of the cairn began to flicker and change did Daniel realize he'd been holding his breath.

“Larry said it must be alien stuff. I love my brother, but he's not the brightest candle on the cake. Okay, let's face it, he's pretty dumb. But I think he was right this time.”

 _You have no idea_ , Daniel thought as he began reading the rows of symbols.

And didn't understand a single word.

He could read the symbols, because they were Ancient. But he didn't know the language. Because it wasn't Ancient.

“I found it by accident,” Tara said, “I loved the color of that stone, I rubbed at it because I wanted to take a picture and I wanted to see if it glitters in the sun when you polish it a little, to make it shine. Then the writings appeared just like that. When you touch it again, they disappear again. It's like a cloaking device.”

 _An interdimensional device. Merlin used one of those_. Daniel licked his lips and squinted at the symbols. But there was no use. He still couldn't understand any of it. And now, as he looked closer, some symbols didn't match the Ancient alphabet he knew.

“Some of this looks Native American,” Daniel muttered.

“How'd you know?”

“See this?” He patted a symbol resembling the number '3'. “It looks like a number, but in some native tongues it's similar to the unvoiced English 'th'. Like in 'thin'. But not like in 'the' or 'that'.”

“Get out. You telling me you can read this?”

He shrugged it off. “Hey, my uncle is a linguist and an archeologist. Some things just stick. But no, I can't really read it.”

“That's why I dragged you up here. Do you think Doctor J could read this?”

“Yes.” Daniel pulled out his phone and started snapping pictures of the text. At the mountain BD would have all the resources to figure out what kind of language they were dealing with.

“And tell us what it is?”

“Um, nope, probably not.” The moment the words were out he regretted them. He had just confirmed Tara's suspicion that something was definitely off with these writings.

“It's all hot classified crap, right?” She sat down cross legged on one of the boulders.

It was too late to back peddle now, but then she wasn't stupid. She had already figured out the writings weren't just your average Native American symbols. He had to work on damage control here. “I… I think so, yeah.”

“And this stuff,” she waved at the cairn, “is why Marc died.”

Daniel lowered his phone and sat down beside her. “I… I don't know. What makes you say that?”

“Somehow all this is connected to his death.” She looked grim, determined to find out the truth. But at the same time she looked just like a lost child.

“I thought your cousin died on duty…?”

“At the mountain. Where they do space telemetry. Even you should get how stupid that sounds.” She blew another bubble with her gum, but sucked it in again before it could pop. “What does Doctor J do at the mountain?”

“I have no idea. He's some sort of adviser.”

“He's an archeologist.”

“He used to be. He's now working for them.” Daniel made a vague gesture with his hand.

She grimaced. “Doesn't it make you mad that the military always keeps secrets from people? Even from the families of soldiers?”

Daniel shrugged again and she rolled her eyes. “Of course, you're just a kid, you probably don't care.”

He chose not to react to that. At all.

Tara opened the pack, retrieved her notebook and the bandana. She wrapped the green head scarf loosely around her neck and showed the book to Daniel. When he turned the pages he recognized several of the symbols he'd seen on the cairn.

“I wanted to come up here to finish writing down the symbols. My phone doesn't have a very good camera.”

Daniel held up his Blackberry. “Mine does. That's why you took me along.”

“You'll show this to your uncle? Promise me.”

“Yes.”

She nodded. “There's more.”

“More?” Daniel echoed.

She rose abruptly from her rock and knelt down at the bottom of the cairn where she started to remove lose rocks and what appeared to be a barrier of dead sun-bleached - they looked like gnarly skeleton fingers - wood. Daniel went to help her and after a couple of minutes of pulling, pushing and digging they had opened the entrance to a small chamber underneath the piled rocks, not big enough to climb in, but large enough for Daniel to stick his head in… if he had a flashlight.

“There's a lamp in the backpack.” Tara went to get it.

Their hands touched briefly when she handed the pocket lamp to him and he noticed how cold her fingers were despite the warm temperatures. He shone the light into the small opening and was immediately blinded by a bright flash and it took him a moment to realize that it was just the reflection of the light on the surface of whatever was hidden in there.

“Can you see it? The silver plate?” She crouched down beside him, the scent of her strawberry gum breath tickling his cheek.

“There's something.” He held the lamp at a different angle to take another look. An army of ants fled in all directions to seek refuge under the stones of the cairn. Daniel stuck his other hand in to remove what felt like a disc or plate. “It's stuck,” he muttered after a moment.

“Yeah, that's why Larry and Marc couldn't take it out. Larry wanted to destroy the cairn, but Marc wouldn't let him. Now that he's … gone … Larry might come back here and try. And I don't want him to. Because I think he'll get into real big trouble if he does. And...” She sat back on her heels and fingered the loose ends of the bandana hanging from her neck. “This is the last place we went with Marc. He loved this place, he was so excited. He said it's spiritual. Well, that was until we found all the writings. Then he got… I dunno… he was still excited, but suddenly he wanted us to stay away from it. But I'm pretty sure he came back here alone.”

“Hold the light for me, please?” Daniel said absently and got his phone out again. It took a couple of tries until Tara found just the right angle for the light so that he could take photos where part of the symbols were readable.

He sat back and zapped through the pictures he had taken, mesmerized at what a strange turn his day had taken.

Glancing at Tara, he tried to come up with a plan. He had to get these photos to BD and he needed them to come out here to dig out the plate and find a way to dismantle the cairn without destroying the interdimensional device.

But they couldn't do any of that as long as Tara was here.

“I want to do a vision quest,” she said out of the blue, still playing with the bandana.

“I don't know, Tara. We should probably go home. I'll be in trouble if I'm not there for dinner.” Which wasn't a lie, actually.

She shook her head. “I'm staying.”

“You need to prepare for a real vision quests. Pray, find a… a pipe and a spiritual guide. You can't just sit here and wait for visions,” he tried to get through to her.

Tara smiled. “Oh, I looked it all up. You can do vision quests wherever you are, you don't need all that praying and prepping, you just have to become one with nature and the spirits around you.”

“Yeah, but it's not a real vision quest then.” He had to convince her to leave with him. Once she was home he could call BD and set things in motion.

Tara grabbed the backpack and opened the front pocket. Daniel watched as she pulled out matches and a bundle of something that looked like dried herbs. She removed a string from the bundle and showed him the contents. “Dried sage. It helps to clean this place of unwanted spirits.”

 _Oh boy._ “Look, I really need to get home...”

“You go. I'll stay. I can hitchhike home. You're the better driver anyway.”

“You can't stay up here alone. Your brother or your mom are probably going to call the police if you don't come home...”

“No one's calling the police,” she said with a snort. “Larry left to stay with his girlfriend. He totally freaked when he heard about Marc. I think he's gonna get drunk or something. He won't be home tonight. And mom's gonna stay with my aunt and uncle.”

“Yes! And you should be there with them, too. I'm sure they'd appreciate you being there!”

“No. No one _appreciates_ me being there,” she said with a shrug, but he could hear the pain underneath her aloofness.

“That's not true.”

“Is.” She looked up at the sky. “I get why Marc loved this place. It's so close to heaven.”

Reluctantly Daniel sat down beside her and followed her gaze. The afternoon sun bathed the surrounding mountain peaks in molten gold. The sky, like a blue canvas painted with white fluffy clouds, stretched out endlessly.

The view was spectacular.

And it brought clarity.

In the past, whenever he had been in touch with Ayiana, they had been in a place he had created in his mind. She had explained that to him. That he was the one creating the places where they 'met'. That he invited her into his mind. They had 'met' on a peak in the desert of Abydos a couple of times and once in his room – decorated for Christmas – at home.

This place, however, was real. It had not been created by him, in his head. It was a real mountain, with a very real cairn and medicine wheel. Had that been the purpose of his vision? Had Ayiana actually been sending him the vision to lead him here while all the time he had thought the place was just a figment of his imagination, one of those bubbles of his mind to meet her under the radar of the Ancients?

Was he supposed to find these symbols and the plate? Was this the missing piece of the puzzle they needed to defeat the Ori? Had it been here on Earth, under their nose, all the time? But what about the runes? And Earth hadn't been on that list of gate addresses Merlin had given BD… Yet, Daniel was here now and it had to mean something.

And if Ayiana had given this vision to him, wasn't it his quest to find out what the purpose of this place really was? He glanced at Tara who was busy putting the dried sage into the fire pit.

Another moment of clarity.

“You had this planned all along.”

She looked up and nodded, her eyes so intense in the bright afternoon sun, emerald sprinkled with gold. “I dreamed about this. I think Marc wants me to do this.”

“You… dreamed about this after Marc died?”

“I dreamed about this place sometimes before he died. It was calling to me.” She blushed. “Don't you dare laugh at me.”

“I'm not laughing.” He picked up some of the sage. The pungent smell, somewhere between camphor, mint and earthy, tickled his nose. It wasn't a scent he'd call his favorite, but it was associated with medieval history, rites and mythology.

“Last night I dreamed of it again. And I saw Marc standing here. He was trying to tell me something, I know that. But I couldn't figure out what.” She looked at the sage now covering the ground of the fire pit like a fluffy blanket. “When you showed up at my house I was just trying to decide if I should do it or not.” She gave him a lopsided grin. “I took you showing up as a sign. I trust Doctor J. I know he can figure it out and whatever this is, he'll make sure me or my brother won't get in trouble for finding it.”

Daniel rubbed a sage leaf between his fingertips and the scent intensified, hitting his nostrils with an almost nauseating strength. The Ancients claimed they never interfered with the natural evolution of the universe, that the flow of events needed to take its own turn, that meddling with powers only led to chaos and disturbed the balance. But not all the Ancients lived strictly by that rule and those who chose to sometimes take matters into their own hands, even a gentle soul like Ayiana, were known to follow their own agenda.

Was Tara right? Had her cousin died because he was a pawn in the Ancient's game? Had the need to guide Daniel here, to this place at Knights Peak, required that kind of sacrifice? For reasons neither Daniel nor Tara would ever understand?

 _No,_ he thought, _Marc died in the field. He got shot by crazy villagers. The Ancients didn't kill him._

It wasn't how they worked. They would never kill anyone consciously, they just wouldn't prevent it from happening. So, even if Marc had been their tool and part of some bigger cosmic plan, his death was nothing but an unfortunate event.

Because the Ancients couldn't be caught in direct action they always worked through those of the lower plane if they chose to meddle with things. Some tweaking here and there, some nudging in the right direction, some gentle manipulating…

Daniel took a deep breath.

“Okay,” he said, “let's do a vision quest.”

* * *

“Basically it's a field generator emitting fluctuating ultrasonic frequencies. The auditory functions are targeted by the device, based on research into certain sounds which are in direct line to certain brain functions, such as the generating of frequencies to enhance relaxation. The biggest challenge is to isolate one small part of the brain.” Sam paused and looked at Bill Lee, who jumped in immediately.

“The device was designed to emit several different frequencies because of this challenge, and it will be up to the operator to try each frequency with a trial-and-error approach...”

“Whoa!” Jack interrupted sharply, “Trial-and-error approach?”

Bill shrugged. “There are only so many possibilities...”

“How many? Exactly?”

Sam grimaced, but quickly looked all professional again when the general's eyes darted over to her. “The good news is that once we find the right frequency we might even neutralize the prior's staffs.”

“Which, in turn, might help us to get our hands on one and take it apart. To see what makes it tick,” Bill threw in.

Daniel eyed the disc-shaped thing sitting on top of a closed metal briefcase. It looked like a CD without the hole in the middle.

“So...” Jack waved at the not-CD. “Let's assume this is gonna work. You capture a prior, find the right frequency without being killed first, yadda… what are you actually gonna tell him?”

Daniel and Sam exchanged a look. “Well,” Sam started, “we'll tell him the truth. That the Ori are not gods and that there is no need to worship them in order to ascend, that ascension is something you can achieve through meditation, releasing your burden and...” She stopped and frowned. “That's actually more Daniel's field of expertise, sir.”

Daniel cleared his throat and put down the pen he had been playing with. “Uh, I guess turning a prior 180° won't be possible. But we can plant a seed of doubt at least, infiltrate him. Is forcing people into reaching salvation the right way? Shouldn't people be allowed to choose whether or not they even want enlightenment? Then we can probably give them a taste of what freedom of mind means to us. That kind of… thing.”

“We need to convince them that through diversity comes strength,” Bill Lee offered.

Daniel said. “We could capture one, keep him from being able to use his power and see what happensover time. Maybe with their power all gone, they will eventually come out of the brainwashing on their own.”

“Like a drug addict going through withdrawal?” Jack sounded doubtful.

“All we can do is give it a go and see what happens,” Daniel said. “It might take some time for the prior to go through that withdrawal...”

Sam shook her head. “Whoa… Daniel… Sir… We're not talking about long term effects yet. Maybe in time we can modify it so that it works long term, but right now we need to focus on testing the device just to figure out if it's working at all. And if it does, I'm sure the prior is going to adapt sooner or later, to get his power back.”

“But it will record the prior's brain patterns while it's connected, so we can use that for further modifying,” Bill said enthusiastically.

“First we need to find a planet where a prior is most likely to show up soon, bury the field generator and...” Sam held up a remote, “someone has to distract the prior and someone else has to find the right frequency.”

“Piece of cake?” Daniel waggled his eyebrows.

“It's all we got.” The look she aimed at him was challenging, angry.

 _We're all angry,_ Jack had said. And Daniel knew he was right. Angry and frustrated. But that even Sam could barely curb her temper was a sure sign they were in need of a breakthrough – and soon.

Jack looked around the table. When no one offered a miracle solution, he addressed Sam, “Any news on the environmental planet scan to fit those rune riddles?”

“The scan is still running, sir. There're a lot of planets to go through. Ten years of gate traveling provided us with a huge databank.”

“All right, kids.” Jack let out a huff of breath and stood. “Let's find a prior and kick his ass. Question – how do we find one? We don't have a prior trap, right?”

“We could go to a planet the Ori have recently turned. They usually leave priors there to teach Origin to the people,” Daniel suggested.

The sound of running footsteps on the stairwell from the control room, followed by Walter coming to a full stop in the middle of the room had Jack out of his seat and on his feet in a second. “What?!”

“It's Teal'c, sir! Gerak returned to Dakara. He's a prior now.”

They exchanged baffled looks and then Jack dismissed them with a wave and they all followed Walter back into the control room where Teal'c was still on screen.

“Gerak has returned to the council as a prior,” the Jaffa greeted Jack. “Many are ready to listen to his proposal now. This means war, O'Neill.”

“The anti-prior gun is ready to be field tested. Keep Gerak occupied. Carter and Daniel are on their way. How is the gate situation?”

“Gerak came alone. There is no other Ori activity, the gate is guarded by Jaffa. There will be no problem.”

Sam bent over the microphone. “Teal'c, try to get Gerak out into the open, close to the gate. The generator will work better with no walls interfering with its power.”

Teal'c bowed his head and the connection was cut off.

“That's weird. There's usually more than one prior showing up to start the turning process,” Daniel said.

“Maybe Gerak convinced them he wanted to talk to his people alone first. But you're right. It could be a trap,” Sam agreed.

“It's the next best chance we have to test our new toy.” Daniel's eyes settled on Jack. “We can't take back up teams with us, we need to stay low key if we want to get close to Gerak without rising suspicion.”

Jack's face gave nothing away, but Daniel knew he hated sending them into this. “You two get ready. I'm sending Dixon with you to bury that thing and guard it.”

As he followed Sam to the locker room, Daniel wondered if this was the turning point they had all hoped for.

“Gerak can't have been a prior for long. Maybe we can get him back.” Sam said at one point when they were tying their boots.

“I guess it depends on how the brainwashing works. If it's a process… like the blending with the Goa'uld or the Tok'ra that needs some time to be fully completed...” Daniel shrugged into his jacket and pulled his second-favorite bandana from his locker. He had somehow lost the one he usually wore. It had probably gone AWOL in the SGC's laundry system somewhere.

Dixon burst in. “I heard we're going prior hunting.”


	7. Rainbow Warriors Chapter VII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little D gets stoned, Big D gets banged up by an angry prior
> 
> Warning: Mild drug abuse

**VII**

The smoldering sage crackled and from time to time a tiny shower of flares rose above the herbs. It reminded Daniel of BBQ nights where everyone was happily sitting around the fire late at night, roasting marshmallows, and everything was light and fun. A sudden longing for one of those team nights almost took Daniel's breath away. It had been so long…

“Marc was in love with someone,” Tara's voice cut through the stillness and brought Daniel's mind back into the here and now.

He blinked. “He was?”

“Yeah. But I think it was...” She gave him an accessing look as if she just remembered she didn't know him very well and wasn't sure if she could trust him. “It was pretty one sided.”

“Okay.” Daniel picked up the large peacock feather Tara had also pulled out of her pack and moved it slowly up and down over the fire to spread the smoke.

To cleanse the air.

“It was someone from the mountain.”

“How do you know?” He watched the thin threads of smoke curl and stretch upwards and sideways before they faded away.

“He said it was complicated.”

“He talked to you about his love life?” Daniel wasn't sure how old Marc had been, but he must at least have been in his mid-twenties. Tara was 14, she couldn't have been more than a kid to him.

She shrugged. “Little bits. It was us against the rest of the family so we kind of bonded over that, I guess.”

“He was gay.” Daniel hadn't known, but that didn't mean anything. You didn't walk around telling people you weren't straight in their line of work.

“There was a guy. That's all I know. I wonder if he knew… or if they were friends. If he's even sad.” Her voice hitched and she pulled the bandana off her neck and hugged it to her chest again, taking a deep breath. “I was jealous because I've never really been in love with someone. I don't know what it's like. I get crushes. They come and go like this.” She snapped her fingers. “It's confusing sometimes. There are boys and girls.”

“You'll find out some day,” Daniel whispered, his eyes fixed on the piece of fabric she kept clutching with her hands.

Moments of clarity seemed to come in spurts up here.

She snorted. “What do _you_ know about this stuff anyway?”

“I know it'll find you when you're ready.” He moved the feather again.

“What?”

“Love.”

“And what's the use if you find it and then you die?”

“At least then you know what it feels like.”

“He didn't even get to kiss that guy. Or ask him out.” She took a watery breath and pulled up her nose.

“Did he have boyfriends before that?”

“Yeah, but he said this guy was special. Different. I don't know exactly what that meant. He said he was… _everything_.” Tara smiled at him through her tears. “I'd like to be someone's 'everything' one day.”

Daniel focused on the feather. Up and down. Whirling the smoke apart.

“Let's get on with this vision, okay?” he murmured after a moment.

But apparently Tara needed to get this out of her system and there was nowhere to hide from it. “I want this guy to know that if he'd given Marc a chance… if they'd had a chance to give it a go… he'd have been the luckiest guy in the world. Marc was crazy sometimes, but he was one of the good guys, you know?”

“Maybe,” Daniel cleared his throat, “the other guy was… taken.”

“Then he was taken by the wrong moron,” Tara hissed.

“Maybe it's the right moron for that guy,” Daniel murmured.

“Yeah, whatever.” She folded the bandana, neatly, and then placed it on the ground between them. “I shouldn't probably do this while you're here, but...” She reached for the backpack once again, opened it and pulled out a small package. Shaking out one of the rolled cigarettes, she gave him an almost sheepish look. “Don't tell anyone, okay?”

When she picked up the matches to light it he almost grabbed her wrist. But then he didn't. He knew he should take the matches, or the cigarettes, or both. He knew he should at least tell her not to smoke.

It was the responsible thing to do.

But just like she hadn't listened to him when he'd told her not to drive, she wouldn't throw away the cigarettes just because he told her not to smoke.

“It helps with the vision,” she said, blowing smoke into the air, where it joined the sage smoke.

Daniel sniffed. “That's not a regular cigarette.”

She shrugged. “They're Larry's.” She didn't cough or splutter, she inhaled and closed her eyes.

She had done this before.

He opened his mouth to say… _You shouldn't… Don't do this…_ _That_ _stuff is dangerous…_ And closed it again. Because he was well aware she knew all these things. That she shouldn't smoke. Shouldn't smoke pot in particular. That it was illegal. That it could get dangerous.

What was he supposed to do, slap her and take away the pack of joints, throw it down the mountain, make a big scene? And a fool out of himself in the process. A twelve year old trying to go paternal on a fourteen year old?

But he couldn't just sit here and watch her smoke weed, could he?

“Are you...” He tried to sound unfazed, just making small talk. “Do you smoke a lot?”

She chuckled and shook her head. “Nah, only now and then. Larry watches his joints like a hawk. I got lucky today 'cuz he left them in the pack. He probably forgot they're there. Been a while since he's gone on a hike.”

“Don't get caught,” was all he finally said.

“I'm not stupid. I don't do drugs at the center or at home. And not at school – if you get caught all hell breaks loose. I have enough trouble as it is, I don't need that.” She sat cross legged now. “When you wanna go on a vision you have to connect with you chakras, your body's energy system.”

Daniel was pretty sure a Native American vision quest needed at least four days to take shape and he knew for a fact, that chakras were a Sanskrit term from the yoga culture of India. But he didn't interfere. Her voice had taken on a deeper, husky, tone, her words seemed to float out of her mouth.

“When you are in touch with your chakras, you have to picture a doorway… It can have any shape or color that comes to your mind. I want to find a doorway to Marc. Or to where his spirit is.”

Daniel didn't believe in ghosts. He believed there were forms of energy they didn't understand, he believed there was a bit of truth in most mythologies and of course he knew about ascension, the afterlife. He doubted that Marc had ascended, so he didn't expect Tara to get in touch with him. But while she was trying, he could focus on his own goal…

He closed his eyes and tried to get into a light state of kel'no'reem, the ritual of meditation so familiar to him, the silent words and required visuals came almost immediately. Teal'c had taught him how to find that inner balance and get in touch with the deeper layers of his mind, even though Daniel carried no prim'ta. Kel'no'reem without a prim'ta wasn't nearly as powerful or deep as it was for a Jaffa who carried the smybiote, but it still worked.

Except he was distracted by Tara's presence and the smell of sage and weed and the train of thoughts his mind wanted to pursue. It was getting late. Jack had texted him several times over the last couple of hours. He had to call BD and tell him about the writings.

And then there was that fear again. This deeply ingrained fear he had been fighting for months now. What if the Ori attacked while he was out here on this mountain and Jack and BD and everyone else were at the mountain? What if the world as he knew it went to hell and they were apart, not together…

And this was it. The very reason Daniel hated Jack going to work without him. Today Daniel had given in to Jack's nagging about taking a day off alone. And he was here. And they were there. And it felt all wrong.

_But it led you here. And you're supposed to be here._

Yet, the subliminal anxiety wouldn't back off. And he realized it had been pulling at the edges of his mind for a while now, somewhere in the background, just barely noticeable most of the time. A shadow you sometimes saw at the corner of your eye, a ghost in his machine.

_This isn't going to work. Not like this. Focus._

But he couldn't.

Annoyed, Daniel opened his eyes and glanced at Tara. She sat motionless, her lips moving silently now, her eyes half closed. Her small hands rested on her knees, the joint forgotten, hung loosely between her thumb and forefinger.

Daniel reached out slowly, very carefully, so he wouldn't disturb her. He took the joint with two fingers and pulled it from her lax grasp. She didn't even blink. For a moment he just stared at the half smoked cigarette.

He had done this before, too. He'd smoked the shisha on Abydos. That had been strong stuff and he'd hallucinated for hours afterward. It had been weird but pleasant on the whole. But he was small now. His body was different and he had to be very careful… if he'd ended up on a bad trip out here, things could go very awry.

“No risk no fun,” he muttered and, with a pang of forbidden excitement, took his first gentle toke. He didn't want to destroy Tara's journey by having a coughing fit. So he didn't inhale deeply, just shallow, a small intake… and then he slowly released his breath again.

It was like driving the Prius. He felt high immediately, just from the kick of doing it, just from the feeling of tasting the forbidden fruit. He wanted to shake Tara, to share with her how he felt. How ALIVE.

He was Daniel Jackson O'Neill, twelve years old in body and forty two years in mind, sitting on top of a mountain smoking weed.

He coughed after all, a very low cough though, and concentrated on his breathing. His throat was getting tight and hot, his mouth filled with the taste of paper and burnt weed.

_Breathe, breathe, it's just smoke._

When the congestion eased up he took several deep breaths before he had another toke from the joint.

More heat, more smoke, but the congestion eased up more quickly.

He waited.

The sage had turned to ash, but there were still small flares coming from the embers. Daniel felt the summer breeze caress his bare arms, tousling his hair…

When he'd been younger… body wise… Jack used to ruffle his hair like that. He still did, from time to time, but Daniel often tried to dodge him now. He wasn't that kind of 'little' anymore. Jack used to give him those bear hugs, too. Until Daniel had started to avoid those, too. He was almost a teen now. He didn't need hair ruffles and bear hugs anymore. He had allowed himself to be a child for a while and he knew part of him still was one, but it was time to grow up again and face being a teenager with all the new battles and challenges it would bring.

Sometimes he wished he could skip the teenage thing. He didn't have time to go through all the hassle of puberty. Not while they were in the middle of this war.

Daniel had one last toke from the joint and then tossed it into the sage.

He raised his face towards the warmth of the sun. He gazed at the sky again. It had turned golden and white, reminding him of Oma deSala and Ayiana, the way they looked when they lost human form and turned into energy.

Tendrils of light were floating in an out of his vision.

_Ego deserde asordo_ _, he called out to the universe. I seek help._

* * *

When the gate released them into the desert climate of Dakara, only the two Jaffa guarding the gate were present. They bowed their heads in greeting, but did not move from their posts. Dixon immediately hid behind the gate where he was going to calibrate the field generator and bury it in the loose sand.

In the distance the doors to the temple opened and Teal'c strode out. He came towards them with long fast steps, staff firmly in hand, his face grimly set. “We must be quick. Gerak is handing out Books of Origin to all council members. But he agreed to meet you out here, DanielJackson.”

“What did you tell him?”

“That you have something to propose.”

Dixon's raspy voice bellowed from behind the gate. “Hey, we're good to go. The thing is buried!”

“How does this device work?” Teal'c hadn't been at the briefing so they needed to clue him in, quickly.

“It will emit a high ultra-sonic frequency targeting a specific portion of the prior's brain, temporarily blocking his ability to use his powers. It won't have any effect on us, but – and that's the bad news - it may not have any effect on the prior, either,” Sam explained.

“You do know this frequency?”

“Uh, no, we don't.” Daniel held up the remote, then handed it to Sam. “This remote allows us to adjust the signal, and sooner or later we'll get the right one.”

“What if you do not find it?” Teal'c didn't look impressed.

“Have a little faith, okay?” Daniel plastered a false grin on his face, but lost it quickly when he saw the temple doors swing open again. “Oh, yay, company. Sam?”

“You and Teal'c talk rings around him. I'm going to find the frequency. Oh, and we're not exactly sure what the range of that device is. I need you to get Gerak as close to my position as possible.”

Teal'c raised his left eyebrow. “You are confident that this will work, ColonelCarter?”

“Yes,” Daniel said. “Yes, it will work, because it has to.”

“What he said.” Sam gave them the thumb's up and, blocked from Gerak's view by Daniel and Teal'c, went to join Dixon behind the gate.

Gerak approached them much more leisurely than Teal'c had. He was holding a prior staff, its orb glowing. His eyes had become milky white and his skin, a pasty ashen color now, was tattooed with the symbols of Origin.

He stopped in front of Daniel and held out his arms as if he was to embrace him. “Daniel Jackson! Have you come to see the wonders of the Ori with your own eyes? Will you convince the Tau'ri to follow our path. For it is the destiny of all life to follow Origin.”

“It is the destiny of the Jaffa to be free,” Teal'c countered.

“Like you, my judgment was clouded by suspicion and distrust. But the Ori sensed my misgivings, forgave me my weaknesses, and showed me their power. I stand before you today, as proof of their divine might.”

“They are NO BETTER than the Goa'uld!”

“The Goa'uld are impostors, but the Ori are the real gods. Behold the gift the Ori have bestowed upon me!” Gerak described a circle with his hand and the sand at his feet began to swirl and rise into a tiny twister. It grew and stretched, all the time whirling around itself. “I control the elements. With my mind. Have the Goa'uld ever shared any of their power with us? Have they ever empowered us like this? The Goa'uld built their empires on stolen technology and cheap tricks. The Ori have real magic.”

“Gerak, the Ori, unlike the Goa'uld, may have real telekinetic power and the means to play with energy. They may offer you enlightenment when you die, but at what price? To give up your freedom, your free will? The choice to live your life the way you want to?” Daniel took a step towards Gerak. “This isn't what being Jaffa is all about.”

“Those who offer enlightenment only expect our praise and devotion in return. It is not a price too high.”

“No, no it probably isn't, IF that's what you want. But the Ori take away the choice from you to decide for yourself. Not everyone in this galaxy, or any other galaxy, believes in ascension. Not everyone seeks the same kind of salvation. The Ori need to accept that there are other belief systems, other goals.”

“The Ori simply want us all to receive the gift of eternal life and blessings.”

“Origin isn't for everyone!”

“ENOUGH!” The sand twister rose and with a snap of his wrist Gerak threw it towards Daniel. He raised his hands to cover his face, but was hit by what felt like hundreds of tiny needles. For once he was grateful he wasn't wearing his contacts today. He stumbled backwards and lowered his arms when the attack stopped. But Gerak wasn't done. He raised his staff and pointed it at Daniel. “Do not talk in blasphemy! See me! See what I have become!”

“You have become a servant of evil,” Daniel spat.

The two Jaffa who were guarding the gate, raised their staffs – and were thrown backwards with a snap of Gerak's wrists. Their staffs flew out of their hands and crashed down at Gerak's feet, the two men landed on their back at the bottom of the steps leading to the gate.

Daniel pulled his zat. But it flew out of his hand the moment he activated it. He suppressed a yell when his feet left the ground and he was suspended in mid-air like a puppet hanging on its threats.

“GERAK!” Teal'c raised his staff, but it was whisked out of his hand and slithered across the ground towards Gerak.

Daniel saw the ground come closer just before he turned in mid-air and fell like a rock. He slid across sand and rubble on his back. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Teal'c who was on his hands and knees, trying to move in Gerak's direction, but he was slowed down as if he was trapped in a time dilation field.

“You will kneel in submission and you will acknowledge the power of the Ori!”

“No. We. Will. Not.” Teal'c ground out.

“Gerak, listen!” Daniel managed to feel for his combat knife in its holster. Dealing with him and Teal'c at once meant Gerak had to divide his powers which gave them a little bit of scope, but not much. _Come on, Sam, now would be just the right time…_

He pulled his knife, but Gerak was still faster. The knife was twisted out of his grip and all Daniel could do was follow it with his eyes as it soared out of his reach and landed on the sand at Gerak's feet next to the weapons he had already snatched from Teal'c and the two guards.

“It was unwise of you to challenge me. Teal'c said you wanted to propose something, Daniel Jackson. What did you hope to achieve by attacking me?”

“Let's… talk about… this...” Daniel felt his throat tighten when he was abruptly pulled upwards and tossed into the air again like a ball.

“I will teach you a lesson about defying us first.” Gerak raised his arm and shook his fist at Daniel.

The pain started slowly and there was little air to breathe. Daniel choked and his body started to seize, his arms and legs flailing helplessly.

* * *

The air around LD sighed and whispered. He was hyper conscious of the blood pumping through his veins. His heartbeat sped up and then it slowed again. Everything slowed down. He could feel the warmth of the earth through the fabric of his pants. He could smell the rocks, a dusty, mineral odor. Everything around him was alive, energized, the universe was communicating with him in its own unique way.

Flyboy retreated slowly, the fur of his neck slightly raised. He growled.

“It's okay,” Daniel whispered, “It's okay, boy. Settle down.”

The dog's ears twitched and he lay down flat on his belly, pressing himself against the ground, every muscle tensed and ready to pounce on any enemy who would dare to attack Daniel.

“It's okay,” Daniel repeated slowly, “No one's going to hurt us. Relax.”

Flyboy whimpered, but stayed put. Daniel wanted to go over and hug him, but he felt the pull of energy forcing him to focus on his inner self, on the universe opening up to him.

 _Ego deserde asordo!_ His inner voice seemed to swell inside his head, seemed to become more powerful.

Then it was there.

The familiar air shift.

The other presence.

_Ayiana?_

But the figure taking shape in front of him looked different and Daniel sat still, struck by how beautiful she was as her transformation was completed and she stood in that golden light of her spirit, tall and lean, dressed in buckskin clothes; moccasins, leggings, a dress decorated with porcupine-quills, paint, elk-teeth, and beads. Her raven black hair reached her waist and fell freely down her back. She didn't wear feathers, only a simple headband. Her eyes, as dark as her hair, searched his and he could see the world's whole history in them.

“Immookalee.” Her voice was throaty and imperious, a stark contrast to Ayiana's soft melodic speech.

“Is that… I'm sorry… is that your name?”

She bowed her head. “It means Waterfall.”

“Daniel.”

She gave him a curt nod. “Danielis, the Man-child.”

“I… ye-ah, that would be me, I guess.”

She beckoned him to follow, turned around and walked away into that light. Daniel stood in one flowing motion and followed her. His spirit followed hers. There was no passage, no effect like the vortex inside the gate. He took one step and they were standing in front of the cairn.

The cairn as it used to be when she had still been human, before she ascended. It didn't look much different. Only the color of the stones seemed more bright, the writing more prominent. The ground was compact red soil, there was no grass growing between the boulders.

“Is this where you came to pray?” He looked back at the ring of stone. He smelled burnt herbs, but not sage, something different. Something more sweet.

“To pray and work.” She braced a long-fingered hand against one of the large stones of the cairn. “You must read.”

“I'm sorry, I can't. I have to...”

“Read!”

He had a weird unsettling flashback to Nem yelling at him; w _hat fat_ e Omoroca?!

But this was a vision, so maybe his drug flooded mind had an epiphany or something.

He stepped closer and looked at the symbols.

“I can read them!”

“When the spirit is set free, it knows no bounds.”

“Beware of those calling themselves the Ori. Beware, for all they offer is false, all they propose are empty words and misleading allurement.” He turned to the Ancient. “What does that mean?” But the answers were already forming in his head.

Immookalee's dark eyes seemed almost black now, her voice was low and grave. “The Ori and Alterans were once one people. One people one goal. Enlightenment. Beyond what the body offers.”

“I know.” Daniel had heard that story before. “A philosophical division grew out of hand. The Ori wanted to build an empire based on their religious beliefs. The Alterans believed in science. The Ori tried to wipe them out. That's why the Alterans left. We know that both the Alterans and the Ori eventually ascended, and that the Ori passed on a religion called "Origin" to the next evolution of humans they created.”

“It is a lie.”

Daniel looked at the writings again. _All they propose are empty words and misleading allurement._ “The Ori don't offer their followers ascension.”

“They do not offer anything. They do not want to share. There is only greed.”

“Share what?”

“Power they gain from those who worship.” Immookalee pointed at the symbols again. “Read!”

And Daniel read.

* * *

 _We've done this before_ , Daniel thought with resignation when once again he dropped onto the ground, this time on his side. He hit rubble and sand. Pain shot through his entire body like a harpoon drilling its hooks into his bones. Shoulder, hip, ribs. He took a careful breath and rolled on his back.

Wait.

He could move.

He could…

“Daniel, are you okay?” Sam was by his side, putting a hand on his shoulder as he sat up and blinked.

“Fine. What...”

“I found it.” She showed him the remote. “The frequency!”

“Wow.”

The situation had changed dramatically in the brief moment Daniel had been distracted by being choked and falling from the sky.

Teal'c, who was holding the prior staff, aimed it at Gerak who was on the ground, unconscious.

“As soon as you fell and I realized it wasn't Gerak who dropped you this time, I zatted him. You should've seen his face when you dropped. It was priceless.” When he had come to his feet Sam handed him his zat and knife. “We sent the guards to the temple to inform the council.”

“Thanks, but I almost had him convinced the Ori were the bad guys.” Daniel moved his head carefully, grimacing at the cracking sound in the vertebrae of his neck.

Sam snorted. “Yeah, I know. Almost.”

“He will soon regain consciousness,” Teal'c said as he rose and handed the prior staff to Daniel. He had picked up his own weapon as well, activated it and pointed it at the prior.

Dixon showed up with restraints and quickly tied Gerak's hands behind his back. A low groan escaped the former leader of the Jaffa.

Gerak opened his milky eyes and sat up slowly.

“Welcome back, Gerak,” Daniel greeted him. He had to agree with Sam. The look of utter confusion on the old Jaffa's face when he realized his staff was gone and that he was no longer in control of the situation _was_ kind of funny.

Daniel held up the prior staff. “Are you looking for this?”

Gerak wriggled his hands, but the restraints stayed firmly in place. With some difficulties he came to his feet. “My staff! Give it to me!”

“I'm sorry, but that's not gonna happen,” Daniel said with a shrug. “Oh, and that warm, fuzzy feeling you're experiencing may be the effects of a device that's inhibiting your ability to concentrate and focus your powers. Symptoms may include dizziness...”

“Irritability,” Sam threw in.

“Yeah and nausea, probably.”

“Feel free to toss your cookies,” Dixon snarled.

Gerak kept pulling at his restraints without success. “It makes no difference what you do to me. But know this, the Ori are all seeing!”

Daniel and Sam followed his gaze to the sky.

Gerak went on with new confidence in his voice, “They are already aware of this affront to their eminence, and shall strike down those who dare to defy them!”

Sam shook her head. “I can't see anyone. You?”

“Nope.” Daniel turned to Dixon who gave him a dirty grin.

“Not a thing.”

“But look… There are your people. You go on and try to convince them of the Ori's might and glory now, Gerak,” Daniel said with more enthusiasm than he actually felt as he watched Kal'lel and the other members of the council approach them.

He only hoped Gerak wouldn't adapt until they had proven their point.

* * *

When LD had reached the last row of symbols and finished the whole text, he took a step back. “Will I still be able to read this when I'm awake?”

He felt something, light as a feather, touch his head. Maybe Immookalee's translucent hand. “You will now.” Her lips parted in a smile and immediately her eyes softened and her features became more feminine. “Myrddin's Alteran name was Moros. He traveled between the stars, but also between time. He came here before any other white man came. Long before.” She looked out over the mountains and her eyes seemed to travel much further, beyond the borders of any country on Earth. “I found him here on my first. vision quest when I was still very young. He became my guide, my leading spirit. He taught me. About Origin. About the danger. But he also taught me how to become one with the great spirit and walk the paths of the eternal hunting grounds.”

“I know he built a weapon. It was destroyed, but he had a plan b. We have to find this plan b, whatever it is,” Daniel said.

“I can not tell you more. Methos only allowed for this moment. It is still dangerous to interfere.”

Yet, she had given him valuable intel. Something they could use to their advantage.

“Thank you.” He raised a hand, palm up.

She placed her own palm against his and he could feel her lifeline, old, but strong. “Ayiana wishes you to know that this is not your battle, child. You completed your quest as the carrier of knowledge when Anubis was defeated. Your path leads elsewhere now and is of your own making. You are free.”

“I can't stand by and do nothing. This is my home world. Oma gave me knowledge, I was sure the solution to deal with the Ori was somewhere in my head.”

“Oma can not give you what she does not know.”

“She doesn't know how to defeat the Ori?” Daniel blinked. This had never occurred to him. Not once. She had given him 'all the knowledge of the Ancients' – that's what she had claimed. So he had assumed…

“Moros kept secrets. Like Oma is keeping secrets.”

“He had to do all his research in hiding. Of course. He wasn't even allowed to interfere. I just thought... because Oma is kind of a rebel he might have confided in her...” His shoulders slumped.

“Moros kept his secrets to himself. He only confided in me because he was my mentor. But the other you is close. The riddle will be solved.”

“The runes… And the plate.”

Immookalee touched him again, on his cheek, a tender gesture of farewell. “Hear this, child; the Ori are here to destroy the Alterans,” she whispered. “That is their true purpose. And they grow stronger. Too strong.”

“Then the Alterans have to step up and fight them!” The old frustration about non-interference rules and Ancient stubborness flared up again.

“It is a time of change indeed, but change comes too fast. We are not ready yet.” She began to dissolve, the outlines of her hair already blurred in the golden shimmer.

“Wait...” Daniel took a step towards her. “Please… my friend, Tara...”

Immmookalee turned her head to look at a point outside their little bubble of time. “She is not relevant to what I was sent to do.”

“No, she's not. But she's in pain. She's lost someone very close to her and she's trying to reach his spirit.”

“I cannot raise the spirits of those who moved on without reaching enlightenment.” Her voice was gentle now, almost as if she was really sad.

“I know. But could you… ease her pain? Just… a little? She brought me up here and I suspect Methos, Oma or Ayiana used her in a way. To put her in my… path.”

Immookalee shook her head. “The First One was right when he said you are a strong headed child.”

He shrugged. “I used to be a strong headed man.”

“Your tribe name would be Cheveyo. It means spirit warrior.” She raised both hands, palms facing outwards, then lowered them slightly and directed them gently towards Daniel. “May the great spirit always guide you well.”

She walked away and he followed, out of his vision and back into the real world, the mountains where it was still late afternoon and the sky was still painted golden-white. Tara sat lotus style, her eyes closed. A sudden gust of wind brushed through her wild mop of hair and Daniel heard Immookalee's voice on the wings of that breeze.

“ _May the stars carry your sadness away, may hope forever wipe away your tears, may your eyes open so you will see beauty in everything that is alive and know that those who moved on entered a new life circle at the hunting grounds of the Great Spirit.”_

With those last words she was gone.

Just gone.

Daniel placed the palms of his hands on the warm ground. He felt oddly connected to everything; the rocks, the mountains, the ash of the sage. His senses were still on overload and he took in deep refreshing breaths.

His vision was crystal clear and bright, his mind uncluttered and sharpened.

He made sure Tara was still caught in her own vision before he stood and quickly walked away until he was out of her earshot.

He pulled out his phone and called BD's office. When no one picked up the phone he tried Jack's office, then his cell phone.

Jack picked it up after the second ring. “Where the hell are you?”

“On a mountain.”

“ _What_ mountain?”

“I'll explain later. Jack, you have to listen to me...”

“ _Daniel..._ ”

“Jack! This is important, okay? Hear me out!”

On the other end of the phone, Jack took a deep breath. He was probably doing that counting-backwards thing. “This better be good, buddy.”

* * *

The members of the Jaffa high council had gathered around them in a circle. Kal'lel had a brought her staff and, like Teal'c, aimed it at Gerak. “Speak,” she demanded. “Where are your precious Ori now?”

“Their ways are not so easily divined. Their ways are unseen and veiled in mystery.”

“They are so unseen, that they don't seem to notice your powers were disabled. Or, maybe, they just don't care,” Daniel mocked him.

“You claim the Ori are gods, Gerak. Yet, the Tau'ri were able to disable you. True gods with true powers cannot be deceived like this because their powers come from within or from the universe. They do not play tricks,” Kal'lel replied sharply, her eyes hard and cold.

“Blessed are the true believers, for only they shall walk the path, and they shall be welcomed unto the realm of the Ori and made as one with Them.”

“And if we do not believe in you, we will die!” Kal'lel addressed all of them, her voice raised.

“The Ori are just!”

“The Ori are bastards!” Dixon, his P90 ready to shoot, walked into the circle and positioned himself in front of Gerak. “They don't even do their own dirty work. Just like the Goa'uld they sit back and watch others do their digging. They don't care who dies. Good people die every day and their only crime is that they don't want to follow Origin. But I'm not going to watch my men be slaughtered and you can bet your ugly tattooed head that we're going to blast them out of this galaxy to kingdom come!”

“Major, we need him alive,” Sam said quietly.

“I know that,” Dixon snapped. “But while he's listening he should know what he got himself into when he signed up to do their bidding.” He spat into the sand at Gerak's feet. “What did you have to do to be turned? Sell your own people to them? Enable simple folks all over the galaxy with weapons and lessons in Jaffa fighting techniques? What?!”

“All I have done, I have done for my people.” Gerak's voice boomed, only he didn't sound superior anymore, but rather like a desperate market crier. “I have worked towards the goal of making the Jaffa a valuable ally to the Ori. We are useful to them. We will be their eyes and weapon. We will make all Origin worlds strong and invincible. With honor and glory we will rise with the Ori!”

A collective murmur arose from the circle of council members.

Behind them the gate began to light up and spin.

“Incoming,” Sam called out and SG-1 immediately aimed their weapons at the gate while Kal'lel kept her staff poised on Gerak.

The wormhole opened and they were standing close enough to feel the wind of the kawoosh ruffle their hair.

“I don't think the Ori are coming through the gate,” Daniel muttered.

“No, but they might send other priors as back up. If they do that, we're doomed. I'm amazed the device has actually worked as long as it has,” Sam said.

The seconds trickled away as the wormhole settled and rippled, the tense silence as thick as molasses as they waited…

...and then stared at the single man stepping out of the vortex. “Hey, kids, I would've called, but this is kinda urgent.” Jack looked at the sky, adjusted his cap and trudged down the steps from the gate. “Should've brought sun block, too.”

“Sir, the device is working,” Sam reported smartly.

“Of course it is. You built it, Carter.” Jack strode into the circle, cradling his P90 like he hadn't done anything else for the past two years. “Gerak… You need to work on your tan.”

The prior straightened up to his full height. “You will not escape Origin. None of you. But if you lay down your weapon the Ori will be forgiving and merciful and still grant you enlightenment when your time comes.”

“Now, see, that's why I'm here. I hate to break it to you, fella, but the Ori? They lied to you. There's no enlightenment, no light at the end of the tunnel, no joining the glowy club. It's all a big cosmic joke they are playing on you.” Jack shrugged. “They'll give you squat.”

Gerak scoffed incredulously.

“Now, you might not know that because you're just a pawn in their little game… And believe me, I know exactly how that feels because their extended family, the Ancients, are tops at playing dirty, too… but all the Ori do is sap energy from their worshipers to crank up their own powers. And no one gets anything in return. No fruit basket, no flowers, no ascension.”

Daniel had no idea where Jack had gotten this new intel from, but it made perfect sense to him. “They sap life energy from their worshipers like a mosquito or a tic lives on their host's blood. They feed on that energy.”

Sam shook her head. “Wait… Are you saying there's a real, physical transfer of energy to the Ori that occurs simply through a human being's belief in them?”

“Exactly. Apparently it needs massive numbers of people converting to make it work, but that's why they are so gung-ho on turning every planet of the galaxy.”

“And the promise of salvation in the end leads to nothing but death. Because…” Daniel wanted to bang his head against a wall. Why hadn't he seen this before? It was so obvious. “In order to gain ascension there has to be a conscious effort, you have to work hard to be able to take that step. Being spoon-fed by the Ori isn't the way. You have to consciously work towards enlightenment and releasing your burden and you have to do it out of free will.”

“But… Oma deSala is helping people ascend. So theoretically it's possible,” Sam said, puzzled.

“Yes. But Oma chooses very carefully whom she finds worthy to ascend. And even then you still have to be able to let go. To open up to the universe and to embrace that gift with all your heart. Forced worship won't do that.”

“She didn't choose so carefully when she helped Anubis,” Sam muttered.

“He was her one big mistake. He managed to deceive her somehow. But she paid for that mistake for a very long time.” Daniel turned back to Gerak. “The Ori are parasites. Like the Goa'uld.”

“You still speak blasphemy, you will be squashed. You will all be doomed if you do not stop this nonsense,” Gerak bellowed. His hands were still tied behind his back and his orbed staff was still in Daniel's firm grip. But Gerak didn't believe them and Sam's nervous looks towards the gate where the device was hidden reminded Daniel of the fact that they were running out of time.

“Ours is not to question, but to rejoice in their service, for they are perfection,” Gerak yelled.

“No, not really, because a perfect being wouldn't need to lie to ensure the loyalty of their followers. They wouldn't need to promise you ascension if they had no intention of delivering it,” Daniel said and he hoped the council would listen carefully and come to their own conclusions.

"Those who follow the path of righteousness shall be raised up high."

Jack shook his head. “No, they won't. Because the Ori don't share power. They are using you. Just like the snakeheads used you.”

"Pity not the blind man, for he is hindered not by the visions of this world, but rather pity yourselves…”

Jack moved closer to Daniel and lowered his voice. “Are they always like this?”

“Yep, pretty much.”

“...for he shall see the light before you."

“Yadda, yadda, yadda.” Jack rolled his eyes.

Oh, Daniel had missed him out here. Despite everything, he couldn't smother a grin.

“We are beacons on the road to enlightenment,” Gerak said. “Kal'lel, you must keep in mind the responsibility to our people. All Jaffa will be doomed if the high council does not follow Origin! I have given my life to them to show you how pure they are!”

“And yet, the Tau'ri have once again proven to us that there are more false gods out there than true ones. That the Jaffa need to continue to fight for their freedom of will, speech and action. I have seen and heard enough.”

“Wait!” Yat'yir left his place in the circle and came to stand in front of Gerak. He looked into the prior's eyes for a long moment, then turned to Jack. “Where have you gained this new knowledge about the Ori deceiving their followers?”

“My kid told me,” Jack said. “And he's the carrier of,” he made quotation signs with his fingers, “'all the knowledge of the Ancients'. He's got friends in high places. Literally.”

Daniel refrained from raising his eyebrows, but he couldn't wait to hear the story behind that.

“And we only have your and his word for this,” Yat'yir countered.

"Let not the words of deceivers lead you to doubt, nor the enticements they offer cause you to stray,” Gerak lamented, gaining new confidence.

“Well, yeah. But if you don't mind me saying so… You wouldn't be standing here having a _choice_ to throw away your freedom, or not, if it wasn't for Daniel. And us.” Jack addressed the council at large. “You can trust his word. I do.”

“We all do.” Daniel stood a little taller to give his words more impact. “You won't reach enlightenment through worshiping the Ori.” He saw the disappointment and acceptance of the truth in the old man's eyes and he felt sorry for Yat'yir. Part of him understood the high hopes some of the council members – Gerak among them – had had in Origin and the promised afterlife.

“And we finally reached a point where we have something valid to undermine their powers,” Sam added, holding up the remote. “It's a start and a step in the right direction.”

“The alliance between the Tau'ri and the Jaffa has always been strong, and based on trust and truth,” Teal'c said. “I will stand with the Tau'ri to their last battle against the Ori.”

Kal'lel turned her back on Gerak. “We are well aware of the contribution of the carrier of knowledge and your people to our quest to destroy the Goa'uld. His word is as good as yours, O'Neill. We will have one last meeting, but I do not want to see him again. Take him away.”

Upon her words all the council members turned their backs on them and walked away swiftly, to the temple.

“I do not believe that Origin will be an option anymore,” Teal'c said with grim satisfaction. He turned to Gerak and placed his hands on the prior's shoulders as he stared deep into the other man's eyes. “Gerak, hear me!”

Gerak did not avert his eyes. Daniel wasn't even sure if he could actually see Teal'c. The prior's dilated pupils were of an eerie opaque white, like cataract in its final stage.

“Blessed are the true believers, for only they shall walk the path, and they shall be welcomed unto the realm of the Ori and made as one with Them."

“Gerak, fight it!” Teal'c's hands clamped around the former Jaffa's shoulder.

“Life and death. Light and darkness. Hope and despair. The rift was created, and on that day, the Ori were born."

“Oh, for cryin' out loud… Hey! The Ori won't ascend you! They never ascended any of their followers! Get that into your stubborn head. You gave it all up for nothing and now you look like Marcel Marceau on a bad make up day,” Jack snapped.

Daniel tugged at his elbow. “Jack… I think Teal'c is trying to reach him.”

“Yes. So am I.”

“Um, I think it's a Jaffa thing. Remember when Teal'c was brainwashed by Apophis and Bra'tac tried to call him back?”

“Ye-ah, but don't you have to be at the brink of death to make that work?” Jack eyed Gerak. “He doesn't look like he's gonna die anytime soon.”

“All I'm saying is, let Teal'c handle this?”

Jack shrugged and stepped back, giving them space. “Right.”

Teal'c, who had ignored the interruption, still kept deep eye contact with Gerak. “You must fight it, brother! You must reach deep within you and FIGHT. You are a warrior! You are not a servant of the Ori.”

"But the hatred of those who strayed from the true path festered and bloomed in the dark corners of the Avernakis to which they had been cast! And consumed by this hatred, they poisoned all they touched, bringing death, darkness and despair.”

“GERAK! NO!”

“And the souls of their victims knew no peace, until the Ori came and whispered to them: 'sleep, for the end draws near'!" Gerak's restraints tore apart with a low 'crack'.

The sand around them began to rise again, wind picked up, Teal'c kept yelling Gerak's name even as he was thrown backwards by an invisible hand and smashed against the left side of the gate. Teal'c went down with a yell of rage and pain, was lifted up again and then dropped like a rock onto the steps.

“He's adapted to the advice,” Sam yelled. “Major Dixon...”

“Dialing!” Dixon yelled back and the gate began to spin.

Jack raised his P90 and fired, but the bullets never reached Gerak. They froze in midair and fell to the ground.

"AND ON THAT DAY ALL WILL REJOICE, WHEN THE ORI COME AND LAY THEM LOW!”

The Ori staff started to vibrate and emitted a sudden heat in Daniel's hands. He tried to hold onto it, but it was whisked out of his fingers with brutal force and swished right back into Gerak's open palm.

Daniel fired his zat.

Sam did the same.

Jack jerked up his P90 again.

But it was Major Dixon who's knife hit Gerak in the back and brought him down. Followed by two blue energy blasts and a barrage of bullets.

* * *

Tara murmured, “The spirit of the dead man found the trail where the footprints all pointed the same way, followed it and finally arrived at the place where he met his friends and relatives and lived in the camp of the dead.”

“Is that what you saw in your vision?”

“I know it happened. I can feel it. Here.” She raised a hand and placed it over her heart.

“Did you see him?”

“No, but… I just… know. He is okay where he is. And that's good.”

“Cool.”

They were lying on their backs, heads almost touching, gazing at the sky. Gold had turned into soft purple and the beginnings of red. The white clouds had disappeared and there was only color now. Silhouettes of birds, black against light, flew above their heads, high high up there.

“Marc was the only one in my family I could talk to,” she said. “You know, about personal stuff. About being… different. He was the only one who understood.”

“You can talk to me.” Daniel was different, too. He knew all about being different in several ways.

“I don't even know you.”

“You'll get to know me.”

“I can't be seen hanging out with a kid.” She laughed. “I bet Marc thought the same 'bout me.”

“And he still hung out with you.”

“Sometimes. When he got assigned to the mountain he wasn't home much anyway. And he had lots of friends, too, he spent time with.”

Daniel smiled. “You could hang out with me, sometimes.”

“You could come to the center and learn how to skate.”

A sweet ache settled in Daniel's chest. Oh, how he suddenly wished he could do that. Go to the center, learn to skate, have that normal life without all the issues and troubles he had to deal with.

But then he glanced at the girl lying beside him and he realized that she had her own problems. All those kids at the center probably had. Some more, some less. But most of them had to deal with being different, whether their families supported them or not. Sure, it wasn't the Ori or the peace of the universe they had to worry about, but in their own small universes those kids had to face their everyday troubles about not being 'straight' kids.

“Is it always hard? Not being straight?” He asked, realizing he had no real experience with that. He had always either lived in the closet without even knowing he'd been in the closet and then he had lived a lie due to working for the military. He had experiences with having to stay under the radar and covering it up, but not with being out in the open and having to deal with discrimination or stupidity from other people regarding his lifestyle.

“Sometimes. But it's who I am.”

“Who you are.” He frowned. “Does it define you? Are you reducing yourself to your sexuality?”

She shrugged. “I'm still figuring this all out. I'm me. But ever since I told my folks they're treating me like I've grown a second head.”

“Ohhh,” Daniel said softly.

“'s probably my fault, I keep rubbing it in.” She touched the rainbow shaped diamond piercing on her left eyebrow. “It's fun to watch them get all flustered and embarrassed about it.”

They watched as more birds flew by.

“The sky is burning,” Tara giggled.

Hues of orange and tangerine.

“Cotton candy clouds,” Daniel murmured. He was still high. He had no idea how long it had been since he'd smoked that joint, but he still felt that connection to everything around him. Or maybe it was because of his meeting with Immookalee. But Tara was still giggling over the cotton candy clouds so it was probably the weed.

He put his arm around the dog who was very still, lying beside him, watching over him. Flyboy rested his heavy head on Daniel's chest and let out a sound that could have been a sigh.

“What did you see in your vision?”

He felt her eyes assess him, but he kept his gaze on the sky. “That no matter how hard I try, I can't...” His throat tightened and he had to swallow a couple of times until he could continue. _I can't save them. I'm not meant to present the solution to this._ “...I don't have the answers to everything.” But at least he had been given some intel. Hope. BD had said what they needed was hope. Now they knew the Ori were deceiving their followers and if they could spread the word about that… and if BD solved the riddle of the runes…

“No one has the answers to everything,” Tara said lightly. “When I was little I thought my dad knew everything. He was my superhero. But when I was little I believed in Santa, too.”

Speaking of dads… “My vision also told me that when my dad gets here I'm gonna be grounded for a very long time.” Daniel sniggered and after a moment Tara joined him and then they were staring into the now magenta sky, laughing like loons.

  



	8. Rainbow Warriors Chapter VIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First kiss on a mountain... :)

**VIII**

It was quiet in the infirmary when Daniel slipped into the ward to visit Teal'c. Apparently he wasn't the first one to see his friend. Bra'tac, who had returned from Chulak shortly after SG-1 had been back, stood at Teal'c's bed.

“Hey, Teal'c, how is the head?” Daniel asked as he joined them.

“His skull is made of iron.” Bra'tac grinned. “Like yours, Daniel.”

“Thankfully it wasn't my head this time.” He moved his shoulders gingerly. Everything hurt, but he had passed Janet's physical check with a prescription for painkillers, a cooling gel, muscle relaxant and a note that put him on 'light duty' until after his and LD's birthday.

He would have to negotiate the definition of 'light duty' with her and, if necessary, take Jack with him as reinforcement. But for today he was just glad she had let him out of her tender care.

Teal'c's collision with the gate hadn't gone so well. His right shoulder was in a sling and he had a bandage around his head, covering his golden tattoo. “I will live.”

“How long do you have to stay in here?”

“I am not sure. DoctorFraiser insists I need to stay at least 24 hours. She called it the concussion routine. She seemed more worried about the state of my head than my shoulder.” Teal'c frowned. “We must find a way to modify the Tretonin so that it speeds up healing process.”

“It already does. You are still healing much faster than anyone else around here,” Daniel pointed out.

“You are right, DanielJackson. Having to deal with the occasional injury is a small price to pay for not having to carry a prim'ta anymore. It is still a nuisance, though.”

It had taken Teal'c quite a while to get to this point of view. The loss of his superior healing abilities had been difficult to bear at first. Daniel still found it strange that Teal'c had to stay on the ward while he was going to walk out of here and go home.

Daniel placed a plastic cup of blue jell-o on the bedside table. “Never approach a sick Jaffa without food.”

“Is that an O'Neill rule?” But Teal’c took the cup anyway and dug in.

“The Tau'ri eat strange things,” Bra'tac observed with disdain.

“It is an acquired taste.” Teal'c offered the cup to his friend, but Bra'tac shook his head. “I must leave for Dakara. But I was wondering, Teal'c… If the council votes against Origin and now that Gerak is gone… you would be the best choice for a leader, perhaps the only one capable of uniting this fractured Jaffa nation.”

Teal'c finished his jell-o and put the cup back on the table. “My heart is indeed with our people. But as long as the Ori threaten this galaxy, my place is with SG-1.”

“I understand. Even so, there is no doubt we are the poorer for it, old friend.”

Teal'c shook his head. “I disagree. Gerak's influence over our people shall wane. Then our nation will rally under the command of a great leader.” He paused and his voice took on a teasing tone when he continued, “That is, if he has the courage to accept the challenge.”

Daniel grinned at Bra'tac's incredulous stare. “I think that's a great idea.”

“Me? You are both out of your mind.”

Daniel and Teal'c exchanged an amused look.

Bra'tac shook his head. “No. There are many others. Younger and stronger ones.”

Teal'c said, “There are many others who covet the position. But none who possess the strength and wisdom only you can offer to unite and lead all Jaffa.”

“When he's right, he's right.” They all turned to see Jack enter the ward, a cup of yellow jell-o in his hand. “Never visit a Jaffa in his sick bed without bringing food.”

“We are well aware of that rule, O'Neill,” Teal'c said dryly. “The required food, however, should be ice cream.”

“Fine. I'll eat this then.” Jack pulled the spoon out of the yellow glob, but at a distinct glare from Teal'c, handed the cup over to him.

Jack rubbed his hands and made an about face. “So. There's news from Dakara. Kal'lel just informed us that the council has decided against Origin despite the fact that our little demonstration of overcoming the priors failed in the end. They are confident we will continue the fight together and end it in victory.”

“I must go then and join them. The coming months will be very difficult indeed. In his blindness and arrogance Gerak has secretly gathered an army of believers who helped provide the Ori worlds with weapons. We must find those he has miss guided and convince them to renounce Origin. The Jaffa are deeply divided now. It will take time to remedy that.”

“And this is why we need you as our leader, Bra'tac,” Teal'c insisted.

“We shall see.” Bra'tac and Teal'c gripped arms in the traditional warrior greeting and then the Jaffa master rushed out.

“What if there will be other priors taking Gerak's place trying to turn Dakara?” Teal'c asked what Daniel had been thinking about ever since they had left the planet. Usually once the Ori had taken interest in a world they didn’t just leave it alone.

However… “I have a theory. I might be wrong, but if it's true that the Ori are building their growing power from the energy of their worshipers, they are probably still just 'uploading'.”

“Little D said the more the merrier,” Jack said thoughtfully.

“So, even if they know we're trying to beat them, we don't pose a real threat, especially if the numbers of worshipers is growing day by day. They can put us and Dakara aside and deal with the less difficult worlds first. Less advanced, more willing to follow.”

“But if we do not pose a threat, why not wipe us out now while we are still just at the beginning of finding the means to fight them?” Teal'c frowned.

“Because Gerak was right in one thing. The Jaffa – those he managed to turn – are now valuable for the Ori. They are their hands and eyes, their intermediaries. If the Ori attack Dakara, or if they destroy all Jaffa populated worlds, they might lose those who work for them now,” Daniel carried on his thought process from earlier.

“And wiping out worlds with a snip of their fingers or a whirl of their staffs might drain power from them, who knows. So right now they might opt for gaining power faster instead of confronting the Jaffa or us,” Jack said. “But whatever their reason for standing down… all we can do right now is wait it out. The other good news is that there hasn't been any growing activities at the supergates. And no new ones are popping up either.”

It wasn't much, but it was the best they could hope for right now.

“How's your… everything?” Jack asked when they left the infirmary.

“I can _feel_ that my body is still there and all in all that's good, right?”

Jack snorted. “You up for a little trip to a place called Knights Peak?”

“Is that where LD is?” Jack had given him a brief rundown of his phone conversation with the kid earlier when they had changed out of their field BDU to on-base uniforms, but he hadn't known about LD's exact whereabouts then. The connection had been interrupted. Apparently net coverage wasn't too great in the mountains.

“Oh, yeah. He left a voice mail message while I was off world.”

“You said something about pictures he sent you earlier?”

“Yeah, but you'll get to see the real thing and can study the chicken scratchings while I'm wringing Daniel's neck.”

“You're not going Homer Simpson on him, right?” Daniel grinned at the dirty look Jack gave him.

“No, but I might still need you to restrain me.”

“Jack… Daniel is capable of taking care of himself. He won't get lost on a mountain. And if he had some kind of… vision… he might have been guided to go there. You can hardly blame him for what he did.”

Jack didn't reply to that, but his jaw hardened and Daniel knew he had some convincing to do here. Then again there was enough time for Jack to calm down on their way to Knights Peak, so Daniel wasn't too worried for little-him.

They entered the locker room to change into their civvies. Daniel struggled a bit with getting out of his BDU shirt and Jack gave him a hand. “Can you drive?” he asked when he had helped Daniel into his navy blue t-shirt and denim jacket.

“Drive? I think so, why? I thought we're taking your truck?” He sat down to change his shoes, but then decided to just keep his BDU pants and boots on. Apparently they were going to hike for a while and it seemed wise to only go through the pains and struggles to change pants and boots once – when he was ready to fall into bed tonight.

“Oh, we do. But,” Jack flipped his phone open, “listen to this.” He touched some buttons and a moment later Little Daniel's voice message played, loud and clear.

Daniel listened to it and blinked. “Play it again.”

“It won't change no matter how often I play it. I tried.” But Jack humored him anyway.

“Heeey, dad, it's me, I mean, Daniel, I mean Little D. I'm on a mountain called Knights Peak. You can activate my tracker beacon for the exact location, because I don't exactly know where I am, but I'm… I'm good, okay, fine. Tara is with me and we took her brother's car, but I can't drive us home 'cause I'm high on some weed and I dunno how long it's gonna last. So, when you come to pick me up, someone has to drive the other car. And BD has to take a look at this.” There was laughter in the background and then Daniel said, “I told Tara you're a cool dad, so… oh, bring snacks? We're hungry!”

“Did you notice how he always calls you 'dad' when he's under some kind of influence or sick?”

“You're missing the point,” Jack snapped.

“No. No, I’m not, I'm just saying...” Daniel got to his feet, careful not to make a wrong move. “But, yeah, you're right. I can't believe he took someone's car and drove them up there.”

“Try that again with a little more conviction?”

“Jack… he _can_ drive.”

“I know he _can_ drive, Daniel. That doesn't mean he can drive. Or get high on whatever they were smoking up there!”

“Maybe it was the only way to get Aiyana to meet him...”

“It wasn't Aiyana. He said something about an Indian woman.”

“Okay, look, all I'm saying is that he wouldn't get into this kind of trouble if he didn't have a good reason to. Whatever he did, I'm sure he did it because he thought he was doing the right thing.”

“That's pretty much the story of his life, eh? Sound familiar?” Jack slammed his locker door shut. “Carter tracked him down for me. Let's go.”

Even after being a 'parent' to Little Daniel for a couple of years now, Daniel wasn't always sure about his own role in their unique little family constellation. Unlike Jack who naturally fit the role of a father figure even though he had struggled with the concept in the beginning, Daniel saw himself more like a big brother. He loved the kid and he had no problem with the commitment and responsibility of helping to raise him, but he often found himself being the mediator between Jack and LD and if he was honest with himself, he sometimes tended to side with mini-him even when he could clearly see Jack's point.

Maybe because they often thought alike and shared the same personality, the same brain patterns.

And yet, there were differences between them he wasn't always able to catch. The sometimes unpredictable part of the kid-side in Daniel still caught him unprepared from time to time and then it was usually Jack who had a better insight into the boy, a better handle on him.

Between the two of them they probably didn't do too bad though.

“I talked to Janet.” Jack shrugged into his black leather jacket. “She said the effects on the mind from being high should have passed by now if he smoked whatever he smoked a couple of hours ago and I guess you're right, he smoked to get in some kind of trance to meet that Ancient. Janet suggested we take blankets up there and some snacks. Physical side effects vary from racing heart, dizziness and getting the munchies. And as much as I would like him to suffer, the doc insists we feed him and keep him warm right away.”

A small flutter of worry crept up on Daniel. “Does Janet think the effect might be stronger on him because of his physical age?”

“You ever smoked weed?”

“The shisha. On Abydos. And yes, the stuff _they_ smoke in shisha's makes you high.” He’d never had a bad trip when smoking. He had hallucinated, but nothing horrible. Everything seemed lighter, brighter. Colors, taste, smell, everything was intensified. Sometimes he had done weird but harmless things under the influence. Once he had made pottery and created some kind of twisted bowl without a bottom. “When I came off it, I had the munchies, too. And there was always a bit of nausea.”

“And you weren't a kid,” Jack pointed out.

Once they had rounded up a couple of blankets, two hoodies from LD's quarters, a thermos filled with hot chocolate and two chicken salad sandwiches from the commissary, Daniel went to get the Cheetos and a bag of cookies from his office. They also took two large bottles of water with them.

The sun was an orange ball of fire on its way to set behind Cheyenne Mountain when they left the last check point and walked across the parking lot, but it was still light and warm. Daniel checked his watch. It was close to 20:00. It was going to cool down up in the mountains soon.

“How far up there are they?” Daniel asked when Jack turned into a gas station ten minutes later.

“They're at 5000 feet, so not too far up, but far enough to get killed if they think they can fly and jump over a cliff.”

“They won't jump over a cliff,” Daniel said, but that scenario hadn't occurred to him until now and he felt that flutter of worry settle and grow in the pit of his stomach.

He had once thought he could surf down a sand dune on a wooden plank when he'd smoked the shisha. Sha'uri had laughed at him all the while she had treated his grazed skin after he had tumbled down said dune.

When Jack had gassed up the truck they continued onto Pikes Peak Road and Daniel pulled out his phone to call LD. But he only got the mailbox.

“I tried that a couple of times. I guess his batteries are dead.” Jack sounded grim, but Daniel had known his partner long enough to hear the concern underneath the gruffness.

* * *

“The stars are coming out,” Tara whispered. “Look! Up there!”

“I can tell you their names,” Daniel said. A loud growl coming from his stomach made him cringe and Tara giggled again.

They were huddled together under the space blanket and had taken turnsdrinking from the water bottle from the pack, They had eaten the power bars, but the hunger was like a savage beast in Daniel's belly. God, he thought he'd never ever been this hungry before.

“You're such a geek, Daniel,” she scolded mildly.

“And proud of it.” He glugged down more water.

“D'you think your dad's gonna bring something to eat?” Tara pulled her end of the blanket more tightly around herself.

“I hope so.” Thinking back to his euphoric, giddy voice message, he felt the heat of embarrassment rise in his cheeks. He had a short moment of horror imagining Jack bringing Janet along so that she could poke and prod him and shine that pen light in his eyes and then take him to the mountain where he'd be stuck in the infirmary, listening to her lectures on drug abuse and all the horrible things his body could have reacted to smoking weed. It would just be the kind of 'natural consequences' Jack loved to come up with.

“How cold is it?” Tara muttered.

“Probably not as cold as it feels. Our bodies want food and the effects of the weed is going away.” But it was certainly colder than before.

And getting dark.

The sun had set behind the row of mountains in the distance a while ago and now they were dipped in a ghostly blue twilight.

“You shouldn't have smoked,” she said with a scowl.

“Look who's talking.” He rolled his eyes.

“I'm older...”

“And wiser?”

She stared at him, then giggled. “Idiot.”

“Oh, nice to meet you, I'm Daniel.” She swatted his shoulder and he slid sideways to the ground, whimpering like it had actually hurt.

“You're weird, you know.” She laughed.

“Weird is my second name.” He sat up again and slipped back under the space blanket where it was warm. Still, he felt cold and his teeth almost clattered. They needed food and sleep.

“Did you grow up on a farm?” she asked out of the blue.

“Uh, no. Why?”

“'Cause you can drive. I guess kids on farms learn to drive tractors and stuff.”

“No. I grew up in Cairo and then...” He just stopped himself in time before he said 'in New York'. Instead he ended his sentence with, “...here.”

“Do you speak Egyptian?”

“Yep.”

“Cool.”

He expected her to ask him to say something in Egyptian. From his experiences it seemed to be an automatic response – whenever he told another kid he spoke Egyptian they asked him to say something. But Tara didn't.

Which compelled him to brag a little bit anyway. “ _A_ _l-mašī maʿ ṣadīq fī al-ẓalām ʾafḍal min al-mašī waḥīdan fī al-ḍaw'.”_

“Show-off.” She snorted. “What? Did you just insult me?”

“No, it was… it was nothing.” He felt embarrassed again and now his teeth _did_ clatter.

“Tell me, or I'll take the whole blanket.”

“Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light,” he murmured.

“Sitting,” she said. “We're sitting in the dark.”

“But we're friends.” That's what she just indicated, right? That they were friends now. Daniel felt a little bit warmer.

“I guess. I don't have many of those. Ron and Gray, that's it.”

“No BFF kind of girlfriend?”

She shrugged. “Most of them turn out to be bitches sooner or later. I… I used to have Janice. We were sandbox friends, she lives down my street.”

“What happened?” Daniel took another sip from the bottle, but the tepid water tasted dull and it did nothing to quench the munchies.

“I kissed her. She was the first girl I kissed. You know, like in that song?” She started singing softly, “I kissed a girl and I liked it, the taste of her cherry chap stick,I kissed a girl just to try it.”

“Was that how you found out?”

“I guess. I never felt anything like it before. It was like fireworks on Independence Day. And she totally freaked, she totally destroyed that moment. She told her mom and her mom told my mom and all hell broke loose”

“I'm sorry,” he whispered. He felt so sad for her all of a sudden. Her only crime was to have feelings for girls and boys and to be a bit confused about it. And apparently that had turned her into the black sheep of the family.

“It's life.” She fumbled in her jeans pocket and pulled out another piece of strawberry gum, unwrapped it and tore it apart. “Here. Maybe it'll make your stomach stop growling.”

He grimaced, but took it and shoved it into his mouth.

“Hey, Daniel?” She leaned into him, placed her fingertips on his chin and turned his head towards her. “Thanks for coming up here with me.” And then her lips brushed against his and everything was a bubble of strawberry taste and warmth flooding his body. The klaxons went off in his head, but it was too late. Without thinking he parted his lips and returned the kiss, riding on a wave of shock and excitement that had nothing to do with smoking weed.

She pulled back just as fast as she had come onto him and while he couldn't see her face very well in the twilight, he still felt the kiss linger and the faint lily of the valley scent of her perfume tickled his nose.

This was it.

His first kiss of his second childhood.

He blinked.

“Don't wet your pants,” she said dryly. “It was just a kiss.”

“Do you kiss a lot of people just because?” he blurted out.

She smiled at him. “I felt like doing it.”

Daniel licked his lips. The strawberry taste seemed to be everywhere and for a second he just knew he would throw up any second. Then the wave of nausea passed, but his heart kept racing and he needed to move, to put distance between them. He crawled out from under the space blanket and jumped to his feet.

“Fire,” he said. “We can start a fire.” He needed to do something, to occupy himself to ward off the thoughts tumbling through his mind and the feelings bubbling up in his chest.

She had kissed him.

He was thirty-something years older than her. It was disgusting, horrific, embarrassing.

And he had kissed her back.

He was 12. Almost. It was electrifying, exciting… he had forgotten what being kissed like this felt like. It did things to him. He was sure he had a perfectly normal physical reaction to being kissed by a girl on top of a mountain. For a 12 year old.

He found the flashlight, turned it on and started collecting the dead-skeleton-finger pieces of wood. Why hadn't he thought of this before? Starting a fire, getting warm. There was no need for sharing body warmth underneath a space blanket.

He threw the sticks and branches into the fire pit, on top of the sage ashes, and went to get more.

It was just a kiss. He could cope with a kiss. They didn't have to do that again, right?

Except part of him wanted to do that again.

“Daniel?” She was suddenly by his side when he knelt down to start the fire with her matches.

“I'm fine.”

“Did you… did you just freak?” Her voice was very gentle now, almost shy. She touched his arm and he froze.

“No, I...”

“No one kissed you before?”

He almost laughed at that. And then he felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes and he had to swallow down a lump in his throat. It had to be the after effect of the damn weed or something, but his feelings were all over the place. Shame because he shouldn't be doing this with a kid. Confusion because despite the shame he knew he would have kissed her longer if she hadn't stopped where she had. And overall there was an overwhelming curiosity, a blossoming of feelings so familiar and yet so new in this state of physical age he was now.

“I'm sorry,” she whispered.

“No, it's okay.” He grabbed her hand and squeezed it before letting go again. “It just kind of blindsided me.”

“Friends,” she said.

When he lit the match and held it to the dry scrubs he used as tinder, he saw her face, the glittering diamond piercing and her wide, deep eyes.

“Friends,” he replied, forcing out a grin.

* * *

Jack adjusted the straps of his backpack laden with blankets, snacks and drinks. They were making good time. BD trudged along, stoically enduring his various pains. But Jack remembered those kind of bruises and knew that walking wasn't much of an issue. Making the wrong movements too fast was the trigger for the sharp stabbing pain in all the strained and bruised body parts.

The bright cone of light coming from Daniel's lamp led the way through what seemed to have been a forest lane and was now overgrowing with scrubs again. A myriad of crickets seemed to sing all around them and above them the moon hung like a ripe lemon.

At least they wouldn't trip over tree roots or rocks on their way up.

Something broke through the brush not far from them. A deer? A bear? Jack's hand settled lightly on the gun in the pocket of his leather jacket. Then it was quiet again.

“There are mountain lions in Colorado, right?” Daniel sounded a lot more worried now than he had an hour ago. He had tried to call the kid several more times on their way up here, but Little D's phone was either off or…

 _It's the batteries, that's all._ Jack kept telling himself that and he believed it, too.

But…

“Mountain lions and black bears.”

“Why the hell didn't he tell you where he is? He could have let us know hours ago and we could have sent a team up here to pick them up and secure the area.”

“I have no idea. But you were the one saying he probably had a pretty good reason for doing what he did.”

“I still think he had. I mean, you saw those pictures. The writings are definitely Ancient. The language seems Native American. I've never seen anything like it before.”

Daniel had gone through the photos on Jack's phone during their drive up here and from what he had said Jack tended to agree with him. Some well meaning Ancient had probably pulled the strings to get the kid on that mountain. That didn't mean Jack had to be happy with how Little D ~~.~~ had approached this mission.

“What I don't get is the way he did it,” Daniel muttered, verbalizing Jack's thoughts. “And why he had to take Tara with him. Or why he didn't tell you before he went up here and ask for a driver.”

From experience Jack knew it was always wise to hear Little D's version of what happened instead of jumping to conclusions, but he couldn't help being angry. And worried. “You were probably right. He was mad at me for forcing him to stay home and when he had this idea he decided to do it alone and present us with a solution later.”

“What is he trying to prove here?”

“It's the same old story. He can do it alone, he acts first and thinks later, he's too stubborn to ask for help… take your pick.”

“Don't ask if it sounds familiar,” Daniel warned.

Jack snorted. “Why, does it?”

“Jack?”

“Daniel?”

“Don't be an ass.”

“Hey, I'm good at being an ass.”

“Oh, yeah, you're a natural.” Daniel chuckled, then groaned. “Stop doing that. Laughing hurts.”

“You okay?”

“Peachy.”

“Don't steal my lines. It's bad enough when the kid does it.”

They walked around a rock outcrop and were presented with high grass, gently waving in the night breeze. Jack pulled out his phone to figure out where they were supposed to go. Daniel's GPS signal was north of them. Not too far now. And still in the same spot.

“We're almost there.”

Daniel rolled his shoulders. “Good.” As they walked on, Jack felt his partner's eyes on him. After a moment of silence Daniel said, “Don't come down on him too hard, okay?”

“He has a lot of explaining to do. I'm willing to listen.”

“There, that's a good start.”

Jack sighed. “I always listen. Or I used to. I've been too busy flying that damn desk I'm bound to now, I lost sight of LD.”

“No, you didn't. We did.” Daniel sounded bitter now. “Has it occurred to you that the reason he doesn't want to take a day off on his own is that he doesn't want us to split off? That he needs to know we're all together in case the Ori attack today, tomorrow or in a week from now?”

“It has. And if he'd take care of himself, take enough breaks and go to bed at his quarters when I tell him to, there'd be no problem with him being at the mountain as much as he wants to be.” But it was Jack's responsibility to make sure LD took care of his kid-side, respected his physical limits and didn't fall back in those self destructive patterns of his workoholic personality during a crisis. “I shouldn't have tricked him into staying home,” he admitted grudgingly. “I should've confronted him and given him clear perimeters.”

And he should have done that weeks, if not months ago.

“Sometimes tricking him works better though,” Daniel said. “You know how stubborn he can be.”

“Yeah, but in this case we need new boundaries. Or reinforce the old ones. He's wearing himself out trying to keep up with the rest of us.” And they had let him.

Daniel nodded slowly. “He functioned and we were impressed with how bravely he soldiered on. But it's hard to force him to slow down when he's so...”

“Obsessed? Focused?”

“Determined to find a solution. Just like the rest of us. And yes, it sounds familiar, thank you,” Daniel muttered.

“That's why I let it slide for as long as I did.” _And because you were so caught up in your own problems, you kept pushing it aside._

But that was going to end now.

“How are we going to change that?”

“We'll figure something out.”

Jack needed to delegate more. He used to be good at that. Delegating. He had a very capable 2IC and maybe it was time to take Reynolds off his team and keep him around more regularly. Hammond had done that with Jack in those two years before he had moved on to HWS. Had involved him more and more in the machinery that kept the SGC oiled and running. Paperwork, diplomacy balancing acts with DC, pulling strings in the back, all the political on-goings you knew were happening but didn't have to take care of when your main assignment was being on a SG team saving the world.

Fact was, Jack needed to become more flexible with his working hours again.

And then again, he had the same issue as his Daniels. He had a hard time being away from the SGC when his significant other was there, or off world. He hated the thought of being home with LD while Daniel was at the mountain in times like this.

And no, he hadn't liked the thought of LD being out here on his own while he and Daniel were at the mountain either. But there was a tiny voice nagging at the back of Jack's mind, telling him that, if the Ori attacked today, tomorrow or in a week from now, Little D's chances of survival were much higher if he was as far away from the mountain as possible

_But that's not your choice to make. He's part of the pack, he runs with the pack. He wouldn't want it any other way. You watch his back and keep him balanced, that's your job._

They had crossed the meadow and were clambering up a hill when Jack saw the flickering light of a fire in the distance.

“There's Flyboy,” Daniel called as the dog emerged from the shadows, barking and tail-wagging. He kept running around them in a circle, shepherding them in the right direction.

At least one of them always had his priorities straight.


	9. Raibow Warriors Chapter IX

**I** **X**

Daniel kept his eyes on the fire. Burning the sage had mostly been smoke and glimmer, but this was a real fire – even though it was small. It was safe in its pit and the nightfall brought dew, so the danger of accidentally starting a wildfire were pretty slim, but he had enough experience with outdoor fire to know to be careful.

Beside him Tara was half asleep, firmly wrapped in the space blanket.

When the dog ran off barking, Daniel raised his head and couldn't suppress a sigh of relief. At the same time he had that familiar tinge of nausea in the pit of his stomach because he knew he was in trouble.

“They're here,” he said, gently shaking his friend's shoulder.

Tara sat up straighter, rubbing her eyes. “What?”

“Jack and Daniel are here.”

Then the two men stepped into the circle of firelight and Jack said, “Someone ordered swats… no, wait, I got it… _snacks_.”

Beside Daniel Tara tensed. “How cool exactly is your dad?”

Daniel squinted up at Jack who was a dark figure against the firelight. “Uh… He's a teddy bear. Hi, Jack.”

“I'm so cool, water turns to ice under my glare.” Jack dumped a backpack on the ground beside Daniel. “I always enjoy these little adventures of yours. Moonlight picnic on top of a mountain – just the thing I need after the day I've had.”

Daniel winced at the biting tone, but before he could come up with an answer, Tara was on her feet and planted herself in front of Jack. “Hey! If you want to be mad at someone, pick me. He only came along to help. And to keep me from driving my brother's car!”

“Of course he did.” Jack pointed at the backpack. “There're warm clothes in there. Put them on.”

“I don't need your stupid warm...”

BD put a calming hand on her shoulder. “Tara… “ He turned his head and looked at Daniel. “Are you kids okay?”

“We're fine,” Daniel assured him. He opened the pack and pulled out two of his hoodies.

“Doctor J!” Tara spun around and raised a hand to high-five BD. “Did you see the writings on the pics Daniel sent? Aren't they cool?”

“Pretty cool, yes,” BD said upon a sigh. “Why don't you and Daniel have that moonlight picnic while I take a closer look...”

“You have to activate the stone,” Tara interrupted him. “I'll show you!” She tugged one of the hoodies from Daniel's hands and slipped into it on her way to the cairn. BD gave Jack a 'what-can-I-do' look and followed her.

Daniel started to get up to join them, but Jack chose that moment to sit down next to him and got a hold of his wrist. “Sit. Explain.”

“But I can read those...”

“I assume you'll still be able to read those writings in a couple of minutes?”

Daniel scowled. “Yeah, but...”

“Give me a run-down of what happened here while your girlfriend is over there...”

“She's NOT my girlfriend,” Daniel snapped.

“Fine, not your girlfriend then. C'mon, bottom line.”

Realizing Jack didn't want to hear apologies or explanation but facts right now, Daniel swallowed down all the things he thought he needed to say and focused on the facts. He gave Jack a more detailed re-run of what he'd already told him on the phone. Immookalee, the writings, the sterling plate underneath the cairn. Merlin, the Ori dishing out big lies to their followers...

“How much of all this does your not-girlfriend know?” was Jack's first question when Daniel ended his report. “Did she see that Ancient?”

“No, she didn't see her. She doesn't know anything, but she's got lots of questions. She, her brother and… Jack, Marc Winter was her cousin.”

Jack stared at him for a moment. Then he let out a long suffering, “Oyyy.”

“Marc, Tara and her brother found the cairn. They're hunting down abandoned places, like ghost towns and old native American places.”

“Wait… _Winter found this place_?”

Daniel winced on his dead comrade's behalf as he put on his hoodie. “Ye-ah.”

“And he knew about those writings? Those kids got to see all of it?”

“Um, yesss...”

“What the f… When? Did she tell you?”

“Tara said last spring.”

Jack sat and gazed into the fire for a long moment. He was probably trying to curb his temper. Finally he shook his head. “I don't get it.”

“Maybe he wanted to find out more about the cairn before reporting it. Maybe he thought he could play archeologist and dig something up to impress… someone.” Daniel had thought about possible reasons for Winters' decision not to report his find. It was hard to come up with something valid. Something that made sense. Something other than the guy being arrogant and stupid. He had never had the impression that Marc was stupid. Then again, he hadn't known him all that well. “I guess we'll never know.”

“You said he might have wanted to impress someone…?”

The words hung between them, looming. Daniel gazed at his dirty sneakers, the smudges gray and undefined in the firelight, but he knew it was red soil on them. “It was just a guess.”

“He liked to play archeologist, didn't he?” Jack said thoughtfully.

“It doesn't change anything,” Daniel replied softly. “Maybe he made a bad choice, maybe he had egoistical reasons… “

“Daniel, if those writings are part of what we're looking for and Winter knew they were here for months...”

“I know. But it happened. And he's dead, we can't ask him why. And no matter why Marc chose not to report this, he didn't deserve to die.”

There was a long pause, but then Jack muttered. “No, he didn't.”

“And Tara is hurting. His family will never know the truth, his death will always be a mystery to them. _In the line of duty…In defense of his country..._ What does that even mean to them? It's not fair.” Daniel took a deep breath.

A large hand settled on the back of his neck. Warm, reassuring. Then it was gone again and Jack nodded at the pack. “Eat something. I guess we have to talk about how to do some damage control with that kid now.”

“Her name is Tara.”

“Tara. And, Daniel? Don't blow your cover. You're...”

“Just a kid, I know.” He frowned. “I never blow my cover. I'm not stupid.”

“ _Driving_?”

 _Oh, that_. “She just thinks I'm cool because I can drive. I told her you taught me.”

Jack snorted. “Ye-ah, right. Just…”

“You do the talking.” For once he was okay with that. Because he had no idea how Jack and BD were going to talk themselves out of this one.

Jack called out to Tara and BD, “Snacks coming up now!”

It was a strange late-night dinner they had, sitting around the fire, eating chicken salad sandwiches, cookies and cheetos. Daniel and Tara shared the thermos of hot chocolate between them. The food settled Daniel's stomach and warmed him up again almost immediately.

Jack stoked the fire with a branch to keep it going and BD kept looking back at the cairn. Daniel knew he was bursting with question. He had to be frustrated because they couldn't discuss the writings while Tara was with them.

“Oh my gosh I never had a sandwich this good in my life,” Tara moaned around a mouthful of bread.

“It's the best cuisine Cheyenne Mountain commissary has to offer,” Jack said. “You should try our tuna sandwiches. Or the yellow jello cups.”

Tara, who had been eying Jack for the last ten minutes or so, asked, “Are there aliens at Cheyenne Mountain?”

“Oh, yes. Men in Black got nothing on us.” Jack popped more Cheetos into his mouth.

“Who are you, anyway? Are you even authorized to make decisions about what's going to happen next?” She finished her sandwich and crossed her arms over her chest.

“What's going to happen next is that we'll take you home. I think I'm authorized to do that,” Jack said.

“I mean with this place,” Tara said, annoyed.

“What about it?”

“Well, you're clearly not just Daniel's foster dad.”

Jack's left eyebrow took an upwards turn. “I'm not?”

“No, Doctor J just told me you work at the mountain, too. Besides, Doctor J wouldn't have brought you with him if you weren't in on what's going on here. He went straight to look at those writings when you arrived. I know something's up with them, they're too weird and the whole 'now you see them, now you don't' thing is nothing anyone could've invented a couple hundred years ago.”

Jack and BD exchanged a look. “Someone's on a roll here,” Jack remarked with raised eyebrows.

BD actually grinned. “I told you she's a cool kid.”

Daniel nibbled on his cookie and remained on the sidelines, but he totally agreed with BD. Tara was a cool kid, probably the coolest kid he'd ever met.

She pushed on relentlessly. “So… do you need to call your superior first to figure out what to do with this place? And do I have to sign some secrecy agreement so I won't spill anything? And if I tell anyone, are you gonna shoot me?”

Jack opened his mouth and BD said quickly, “No one is going to shoot you, Tara.”

“There's nothing to tell,” Jack told her. “You found some cool chicken scrat...” BD glared at him and Jack rolled his eyes, “ _writings_. They are probably native American, maybe...” He gave BD a prompting look.

“They are certainly very old. Most native American tribes didn't have written language, but this might actually have been chiseled into the stone by a white man… or woman… who lived with a tribe. There are stories of settlers choosing to live with a tribe because they married into it or they were adopted into the tribe as children. Some of them could read and write.”

“What about the cloaking thingy? You can make them appear and disappear. That's Star Trek stuff.”

BD answered quickly, “Oh, that's probably a, uh, chemical reaction, something in the rocks.”

Daniel focused on his cookie and wondered if the SGC should ask Thor to help them create some sort of memory wipe out pen like the one the guys used in Men in Black.

Tara's eyes narrowed as she gave BD and Jack assessing looks. “Sooo… you won't seal this area off and analyze those writings? They are just… writings? And I can come back with my brother and call the press or the museum to make sure someone knows about it? Native American heritage is important, you know?”

Jack and BD exchanged another long look. Daniel watched their non-verbal conversation about what to do. Oh yes, he was glad not to be in either of their shoes right now.

“You're not buying this, eh?” Jack said finally.

“Nope.”

“Look.” BD pinched the bridge of his nose. “Honestly… we can't tell you. It all comes down to that. We just...”

“...can't,” Jack threw in.

“You know what classified means, right?” BD asked and she nodded. “Okay. So, you stumbled over something you weren't supposed to see. And no museum is supposed to know about this, no press should ever set foot in this place. Its secrets need to be protected. Because humanity isn't ready to know about this. Not yet.”

Tara's eyes darted back to Jack. “Are we in trouble because we found this? Will someone come for Larry to question him? Could we be… arrested or something?”

“No one is going to be arrested _or something_ ,” Jack assured her.

“How do you know? If this is something big you have to report it to your head honchos, right?”

“You just have to trust me on that one.”

They glared ateach other like negotiation parties trying to figure out what the other one was up to. Then Tara turned questioning eyes on BD. “Can I do that? Trust him?”

“Absolutely. General O'Neill is a man of his word.”

“Gen… Oh, shit, I mean, oh… shoot?” She boxed Daniel's arm. “Why didn't you tell me your dad is a general?”

Daniel blinked at her innocently. “I didn't know that was important.”

Jack sighed. “You blew my cover, Doctor Jackson. I just wanted to be treated like any normal guy tonight.”

“You poor man. I'm sure Tara will get over it quickly.”

“Are the two of you an item?” She blurted out, then quickly added, “Of course you don't have to tell. I won't ask. I mean I just did, but I won't ask… again?”

“See, she got over it,” BD deadpanned.

Jack stoked the fire again. “So, _Terra_ …”

“Very funny, har har.”

“...you're a military brat, eh?”

“My dad is at the mountain. My cousin… was, too. He died.” Her voice didn't hitch and she didn't avert her eyes. On the contrary, her voice was challenging and she looked Jack directly in the eyes. “They won't tell us how. My dad probably knows, but he won't say anything either.”

Even in the firelight Daniel saw BD's eyes widen in shock.

“Your dad is Major Billox. Frank Billox. Lt. Winter was his nephew.” Jack knew his people. All of them.

Daniel knew Major Billox was the SGC's munitions and missile maintenance officer. Daniel had never actually met him. He hadn't been in the armory in years. When he had still been going off world – before he had been shrunk – someone else had been in that position. So he had no idea what kind of man Billox was.

Jack suddenly asked, “What are you gonna do when High School is over?”

She blinked. “What?”

“You ever thought of joining?”

“I wanted to be a pilot,” she confirmed reluctantly.

“Wanted or want to be?”

“My dad always said he'd support me if my grades were good enough to enroll at the academy.” She threw her half eaten cookie into the fire. “My grades are okay.”

“But?” Jack and BD both asked.

“I don't know if he still wants me to join. I'm not straight. It's complicated. I think he's disappointed in me. I let him down.”

BD's eyes narrowed. “He said that?”

“No, but I still think I did. My family has been acting weird around me ever since they found out.”

“Maybe they just don't know how to deal with it,” BD said gently. “Takes time for them to get used to it.”

She shrugged and Daniel got another glimpse of the sensitive and not-so-sure-of-herself girl underneath the tough skater kid appearance.

“If you want to join, that's up to you. No one is gonna ask,” Jack said quietly.

“Question is; are you prepared to keep it low key enough to stay under the radar. How important is your orientation to you?” BD added. “Or how important is it to you to be out of the closet. Once you joined you need to keep it very low key, you know that, right?”

She scowled. “Yeah. It's a lot of bullshit if you ask me. This DADT stuff.”

“Yeah, but that's not the point,” BD said quietly. “Can't change the rules.”

“Why are you asking me all these things?” Tara looked from Jack to BD and back to Jack.

“Because we can't give you your answers now. But if you decide to join and if you're ready to work your butt off to become one of the best of the best, you might be in for the most thrilling assignment of your life,” Jack said.

“In deep space telemetry,” she deadpanned.

“In deep space telemetry,” BD confirmed, face straight.

“And that's all the explanation you'll get tonight. Just one more thing; keep an eye on your track record if you want to join. And,” Jack held out his hand, “no drugs. None. Nada.”

“They're Larry's.” But she fumbled the slightly squashed pack of joints from her jeans pocket and handed them over.

Jack slipped them inside his leather jacket and got to his feet, knees popping. “Alright kids, let's pack up and get you brats home.”

“What about the sterling plate?” Tara asked as they gathered their things together.

“We'll come back tomorrow and do our thing,” Jack said. “Don't worry about it.”

“Uh, I'd like to take a look at it though.” BD was already on his way back to the cairn and Daniel followed him quickly.

“There are more writings on the plate, but I couldn't read much of it yet. The writings on the cairn basically just warn us not to trust the Ori and that they make false promises to their followers,” he whispered when they were out of ear shot.

“The Ancient you summoned ~~,~~ was native American?”

“Yeah. She didn't tell me which tribe though. Crow maybe, but I'm not sure. Merlin was her mentor. He must have lived up here somewhere. She said she found him here when she was on a vision quest.”

They had stopped at the cairn and BD put a hand on his shoulder. “Wait… if Merlin used to live up here, there might be a lab, or what's left of it, somewhere.”

Daniel's eyes widened. He hadn't thought of that! “We HAVE to get a team up here!”

“Yep.” BD crouched down at the bottom of the stone formation, his movements awkward and stiff. “And you're lucky enough to be the only one who can read this, so Jack will have no choice but to let you be part of it no matter how mad he is at you.”

“Are you okay?” Daniel got down on his hands and knees beside him. He didn't want to know how mad Jack really was. He would find out soon enough.

“Fine. Got banged up a little on Dakara,” BD groaned under his breath as they pulled the dead wood and rubble away from the entrance.

“By whom?”

“Gerak in prior mode. I'll… tell you later. Hold the light.” Daniel took the flashlight from BD and held it into the hole.

“A sterling throne,” BD muttered.

“What?”

“Rune number eight said; an ark sitting on its sterling throne.” He reached inside the opening and knocked against the plate.

_Ding._

“Metal. Looks like it, too. Silver, maybe.” BD sat up again. “I wonder...” Daniel saw him take a deep breath. He had to be in pain. “Jack!”

But there was no reply coming from the fire pit. Cursing under his breath, BD struggled to his feet.

* * *

The girl with the wild mop of hair and the diamond shaped piercing adorning her left eyebrow wrapped her arms around her pulled up knees and stared into the fire. “You're going to tell my parents, right? About the weed? And that I took the car.” Then she raised her head. “But seriously... Daniel? He's like a pro behind the wheel! You should be proud of him.”

“My pride in him knows no bounds.” Jack closed his pack and sat down again, beside her now.

“You're a cynical one, are you?” A scowl was directed at him.

“It's a good way of channeling anger.” He tilted his head and took a closer look at the scarf she was wearing. It was a bandana, loosely slung around her neck. He reached out and tugged at one of the loose ends. “Yours?”

“Huh? No. It was Marc's. It was among the things they found in his locker.”

He rubbed the familiar fabric between his fingertips before letting go of it. It could have been Winter's, it was USAF clothing. Except Winter never wore bandanas as far as Jack remembered. He had preferred a cap.

“I can keep it, right?” She pulled it more tightly around her neck.

“Sure.” Jack decided to steer the conversation away from bandanas. “Are your folks home tonight? I know your dad is still on duty, but what about your mom?”

“She's with my aunt… Marc's mom. To arrange… stuff and to babysit Marie. So, no, no one's home.”

“At least your mom isn't sick with worry on top of everything else they're going through right now,” Jack said and noticed how she seemed to shrink a little more into herself.

“I didn't mean to make them worry,” she blurted out. “I just wanted to be here and say goodbye to Marc. He loved this place. And I thought if I could figure out the writings I'd know what he was really doing there… at the mountain. Why he died.”

“Those writings have nothing to do with his death,” Jack said. It wasn't a lie. Not really, anyway. Then again, if Winter had reported this place back in spring, they might have been in a better position today and maybe he'd still be alive now. And then, again, maybe not. Maybe it wouldn't have made a huge difference. They'd have to wait and see.

“But...”

“Your cousin was on an assignment,” Jack weighed his words carefully, toeing the line here. “He was Special Ops.”

Tara looked at him, her eyes big. “I didn't know!”

“The hardest part of the job sometimes is the secrecy,” Jack said slowly, thinking back to Sara and Charlie, how hard it had been to keep part of what he did closeted. Not being able to open up to his wife about certain things, even if he had wanted to. “It sucks, it's not fair, but there's nothing we can do about it. Marc knew that. Your dad knows that. Don't ever, not for a minute, believe it's easy for him, because it isn't. The family is the one thing that keeps us going when things get rough. Family, home… that's the one thing we try to keep out of the job. Because we have to. To protect the country, and to protect the ones we love. But also because home is what we want to be our happy place.”

She glanced up at him. “Do you have a happy place?”

“Yeah.”

“Marc didn't even have his own family yet.”

“But he had his parents, his sister. He had you.”

“Was he shot?” She sniffled.

Jack sighed. “Look…”

“His death saved someone's else's life,” Big Daniel's voice came from behind them. Jack had no idea for long he had been standing there. He heard the pain in his partner's words and while he had no doubt that Daniel was able to deal with the situation, he knew how hard it had to be to stand here, trying to explain this to Winters' cousin.

Winter had been right behind Daniel, covering him. One blast had hit him in the back, one in the chest as he had spun around to fire. He had gone down immediately. The victory of the attacker was short lived because Daniel had pumped bullets into him.

“ _If it hadn't been for Lt. Winter those blasts would have hit me. He saved my life and I will never be able to thank him or to repay that sacrifice to him. It's what we do, covering our backs out there, it's part of the job. But it will never get_ _any easier_ _to be the one who lives because someone else died.”_

Jack wished he could show Tara those lines from Daniel's report, but it wasn't meant to be. He hoped he had planted a seed here to give her a goal, something to work towards to. She seemed too bright for her own good, with a healthy dose of attitude and determination. If the kid got her act together she might turn out to be just what the SGC was looking for.

“It happened fast,” Daniel said.

“That's good.” Tara sniffled again and Jack put a tentative hand on her shoulder.

“It's all we can give you,” he ended this painful conversation. He squeezed her shoulder one last time and stood, then reached down to lend her hand and pull her to her feet.

She gave him a small smile. “Thank you. Oh!” She crouched and rummaged around in her pack and came up with a leather-bound note book. Handing it to Jack she said, “I guess you should have this. I wrote down the symbols, but never managed to decipher them. It's probably for the best.” She grimaced. “Marc was mad at me for doing it. I guess if he was still alive he'd be in trouble now for not reporting this.”

 _Oh, you bet he'd be in trouble_ , Jack thought, but just took the book from her with a nod of thanks. Water under the bridge now.

Little D, followed by the dog, joined them and asked Tara to help him put out the fire. When the kids were occupied Jack felt Daniel's hand tug at his elbow. “I want you to try something.”

“Okay.”

They walked back to the piled up stones.

“I had no idea he was her cousin,” Daniel murmured.

“You couldn't have known.”

“I know. I know, but...”

“I know.” Jack reached out in the dark and their hands touched briefly.

“I think we found the sterling throne,” Daniel finally said when they stopped at the stones. “It's underneath the cairn.”

“The throne from the runes? It's here?” Jack crouched and Daniel held the light for him. Underneath the cairn was a cavity and at its bottom a gleaming metallic plate with more scribblings engraved into it.

“Can you try to move it? Daniel said it's stuck, but it's ancient, so maybe...”

Jack reached inside and probed the cool surface of the plate. He could feel the fine lines of carved symbols under his fingertips. He was a little bit out of practice here, but when he closed his eyes and focused on what he felt, the plate started to vibrate softly under his hand. He leaned in and stuck his other arm into the opening. The plate gently raised upwards and he moved his hands over it until he seized its edge and pulled it towards him.

The opening was too small to get it out.

“We need to dig a little.”

“But you can move it,” Daniel said, anticipation lacing his voice.

“I can move it.”

“Let me put a team together...”

“Tomorrow,” Jack said.

“...tomorrow. And I need the kid on it.”

“Daniel...”

“He's the only one who can read this language and we might not have enough time for me to learn it from him. There could be a hidden lab somewhere if Merlin lived here. And I need you to be on that team to handle any ancient tech we might find. So you can keep an eye on LD and be useful at the same time.” Jack could hear signs of excited enthusiasm, something he hadn't heard in quite some time.

“Did you just say I could be _useful… as in 'useful for a change'_?”

“No, I said I need you on my team. And LD. Think about it, Jack. He'll get out of the mountain, get lots of fresh air, a break from sitting at his desk for hours and hours. He'll get a tan, enough exercise and we're both with him.”

“Oh yeah. That'll teach him to drive without a license, climb mountains and smoke weed.” Jack knew they needed LD on this one, but he just couldn't believe how the brat once again turned the tables on them and got away with a treat for his actions.

Daniel looked back in the direction the kids were dealing with the fire. “We'll think of something. And we need to decide what to do with Tara. Are you going to tell her father what happened here tonight?”

Jack followed his gaze. The fire was out, the mountain plateau was only bathed in moonlight now. They could make out the silhouettes of the kids. From what he could see they were playing with the dog. Little D was doing a great job of giving them space and keeping Tara occupied over there.

“No, probably not. That family has to deal with enough grief right now, they don't need to know about this on top of everything else.” But he was going to talk to Frank Billox about his kid, let him know she had made friends with LD. He wanted to know what her dad had to say about his daughter. And he hoped that not telling Billox about the weed wouldn't come back to bite him some day.

But somehow he had a good feeling about that kid, despite the weed, and he was willing to give her a chance to prove him right.


	10. Rainbow Warriors Chapter X

**X**

The hike down the mountain seemed so much longer than the climb up. LD couldn't believe they had started on their little adventure only half a day ago. It felt as if they had stayed up there for weeks.

As his tired feet stoically trudged down the forest lane his thoughts circled around the importance of what they had found. Like a broken record. Was it going to lead to a turning point in the war? Could they use the new facts they had gathered to their advantage somehow? And – right now that was no little part of his worrying – was his contribution to the cause valuable enough to keep him from being skinned alive by a certain general?

Few words were spoken as they hiked on. Flyboy stayed at Daniel's heel and from time to time pushed his nose into the palm of Daniel's hand as if to reassure him that everything was going to be all right.

At the parking lot Daniel handed the keys of the Prius to BD and said good-bye to Tara. She threw her pack into the trunk and stifled a yawn. “You think your dad's gonna let you hang out with me?” Turning to Jack she promised, “I won't let him drive anymore, scout's honor. And no more weed. But I could show him how to skate.”

“I'll think about it,” Jack said, poker face firmly in place.

“He's a good kid,” Tara said and Daniel wanted the Earth to swallow him. Even in the ghostly light of the moon he saw Jack's mouth twitch into a smirk. BD coughed and murmured something about how it was late and that they should leave now.

Daniel slipped into the passenger seat of the truck and put on the seat belt, his ears still burning with embarrassment.

Jack joined him a moment later and they followed the Prius down the dirt road back to civilization.

Daniel glanced at the dark profile of his friend and surrogate father. He was torn between wanting to apologize and the need to defend his actions.

Jack kept his eyes on the road when he asked, “What? You swallowed your tongue?”

“I'm trying to come up with the best strategy here. Fight or grovel.” Being tired apparently switched off his brain-to-mouth filter.

“Oh, believe me, groveling is the definitely the way to go here.”

Daniel sighed. “I guess.”

“We shouldn't have this conversation now,” Jack said. “I'm cranky, you're tired. Not a good combination.”

“Okay.” But now the thoughts kept coming; all the reasons why he had to do what he had to do, the need to explain himself.

_Jack is right. We should do this tomorrow._

He lasted until they were on the highway to Colorado Springs before he blurted out, “Going up there was her idea. I just went along to keep her company. I had no idea what was going to happen. _She_ was driving first. I only managed to get her to hand over the keys because she almost killed a cat. What was I supposed to do?”

“You tell me.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and slumped back into his seat. “You made Josh unavailable for me today.”

“To take you to the mountain, yes. Don't play dense with me, Daniel.”

“Everything happened so fast.” It was such a lame thing to say, but sometimes when his kid side took over he came up with dumb reasoning like that. He couldn't always help it.

“There was no time to pick up your phone, call the mountain and ask for a driver?”

“You would have let us go up to Knights Peak on our own?”

Jack snorted. “Oh, you're smart enough to get Walter to send you someone and dodge any questions about where you want to go. I probably wouldn't have known any sooner than I know now. But at least you wouldn't have been driving. I'll tell you what happened. You were presented with an opportunity, you were still a bit pissed with me and you ran with it… drove with it… whatever.”

Daniel opened his mouth to tell Jack that wasn't how it happened, but closed it again. He _had_ thought of calling the mountain. And then hadn't.

But...

“See, I'd be in trouble either way so what's the difference?” he snapped. He felt like sulking.

“You'd be in trouble for not telling me where you went and for taking a hike up there with only your damn phone and no power bank to keep it from dying. You'd be in trouble for smoking weed. All that can be sorted out between you and me. But you can NOT risk being caught by a highway patrol driving without a license AND with a pack of joints in your friend's bag...”

“I didn't know about the drugs.” Daniel bit his lip. If the police had caught them it probably wouldn't have mattered whether he had known about the weed or not.

“Daniel, y _ou_ are _not_ driving until you have a license again...”

“...unless there's an emergency?” Daniel murmured.

Jack gripped the steering wheel more tightly, but actually said, “Life and death emergency. Are we on the same page here?”

“Yeah, fine, whatever.”

Daniel expected Jack to yell at him now, but his voice dropped a notch, which was actually worse. “Try that again?”

“I won't drive again until I have a license. Unless there's a life and death emergency.” After a heartbeat he added, “Sir.”

Jack raised an eyebrow. “That's better.”

They had left the highway and followed the Prius into the city.

“Look, we should really focus on the important things here, right? We found the sliver throne for the ark. And the writings gave us important intel. Daniel is going to send a team up there. Why does it matter _how_ I managed to get up there and what else happened? No one got hurt, we're all here, so what?” He didn't mean for it to come out so snappish, but he had never been good at this particular part of their relationship and he was a bit out of practice with the groveling thing.

“It _matters_ because you could have been arrested! Something could have happened to you and that kid up there while you were stoned! It _matters_ because I had to go off world not knowing where you were! You're NOT supposed to go off the grid like that!”

“You know how to track me down if necessary,” Daniel sniped.

“I don't want to have to track you down! I expect you to stick to the rules and tell us where you're going!”

Daniel sighed. “For how long are you going to ground me?”

“I'm not done with you yet. We're going to sort all this out tomorrow and then we can talk about consequences.”

“What kind of consequences?” He knew he should just shut up, but he wasn't very good at that either. “You'll probably be too busy tomorrow to...”

“Oh, believe me, I won't be too busy. But if you keep up the attitude you're going to wish I was,” Jack cut him off.

Daniel groaned. “No, what I meant was, there are more important things to do tomorrow than chewing me out. BD said there might be a lab and...”

“Don't worry, there'll be plenty of time to organize our next steps in all things Origin and deal with you. And like it or not, you'll be my first priority.”

“I'm flattered.”

“Daniel?” Jack took a deep calming breath.

“What?”

“You remember how that time out thing works?”

Daniel glanced at Jack's grim profile. It had been years since he'd been put on a time-out chair and probably months since he'd been sent to his room for a time out. He was too old, even going by his physical age, to be put into “time out”.

“You can't,” he felt compelled to blurt out. “I'm just defending my position and you're not listening as usual. You're just being a jerk...”

Jack pulled the truck over to the side of the road and shut off the engine. “Get in the back seat. Now.”

“Are you serious… Okay, okay.” He unlocked his seat belt, got out and slammed the door. Flyboy who was in his harness, licked his hands and seemed very happy about the company.

Jack glared at him through the rear view mirror. “If you feel like throwing a tantrum try counting backwards from 100, but use your inside voice because I don't want to hear it.”

Daniel rubbed his burning eyes. He hated being on the receiving end of one of Jack's tongue lashings. And he always tended to make it worse by not being able to just shut up, swallow his pride and say 'sorry' – even if that's what he really should do.

They were silent until they turned into Tara's street and Jack parked on the sidewalk while BD steered the Prius into the garage.

“Want to say good-bye?” Jack asked rather curtly.

Daniel shrugged. He'd probably be grounded forever and never allowed to go anywhere alone again, not to mention spending time with his new friend. But when BD and Tara showed up in front of the garage he slipped out of the truck to join them. The house was dark and silent. Tara had been right, no one was home. Daniel wondered why no one worried about her being home alone so shortly after her cousin's death. Did they think she didn't care?

“Will you be okay?” he asked.

She brushed her hair out of her face. “Yeah. Maybe I'll call my mom, ask her if I can come over. She… did offer to take me, I didn't want to.”

“You should do that,” BD said quietly. “I'd feel better if you go. Do they live far from here? We can take you there.”

“Oh gosh, no. They'll just ask weird questions. It's only two streets away. I'll take my bike.”

“My bike!” Daniel suddenly remembered his bike was still in Tara's backyard. He ran to get it and when he came back Tara was hugging BD who put his arms around her and held her for a moment. Then she came over and they high-fived.

“Let me know when you're out of the dog house. Doctor J wrote down my phone number for you. He said your dad's gonna be okay with that eventually.” She smirked.

“Okay. I'll see you.” Daniel watched her run into the house until he felt BD's hand on his shoulder. “Let's go home.”

Jack came around the truck and heaved the bike into the bed. When Daniel had secured it he joined Flyboy in the backseat. BD took the passenger seat and they were back on the road.

* * *

Daniel closed his seat belt and suppressed a low grown. It was time for a painkiller and some muscle relaxants. He moved his back and shoulders carefully into a position that didn't hurt. He felt Jack's eyes on him and gave him a wry smile.

He sensed the tension in the truck and concluded that there had been a 'talk' – but no conclusion yet.

“Tara is going over to her aunt,” he said.

“Good.” Jack steered the truck back onto the highway.

“I told her it's ok for her and LD to be friends.”

“Sure, why not. They already shared the weed and a car, maybe they can start drinking next,” Jack grumbled, but Daniel took it for what it was. Cranky Jack sarcasm.

“I can explain about the weed,” Little Daniel piped up from the backseat.

Jack rolled his eyes. “I think I've heard enough explanations for one evening.”

“But...”

“I don't want to hear it. Not tonight. We'll all be much less annoyed tomorrow,” Jack snapped.

“I just want to explain...” There was a hitch in the boy's voice now.

“For cryin' out loud… Daniel!”

The kid shut up like a clam and buried his face in Flyboy's neck. Daniel raised both eyebrows and Jack presented him with a scowl. “What? All he does is getting defensive and bitchy.”

When they arrived at the house Little D and the dog scurried inside like silent shadows and immediately vanished into the kid's room.

“He didn't sound bitchy to me,” Daniel said quietly when they entered the kitchen and Jack went for a cold beer.

“What?”

“Daniel… in the truck. He didn't seem bitchy to me. And you said you were going to listen.”

The bottle opened with a low plop and Jack tossed the opener on the kitchen table. “I was. I am. I will. Tomorrow.”

“I think you should listen tonight so that we can present him with some kind of consequence tomorrow. But you can only do that when you know all the facts.” Daniel took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. “We're all tired, but I think he needs to get something off his chest there. I don't know what he told you before, but...”

“He tried to convince me he had no choice but to drive that car. And I had to really smack him down, verbally, to get him to promise me not to do it again. And then he kept being snarky. It was like going back in time a couple of years. And I'm not willing to get into any more verbal sparring with him tonight.”

Daniel winced. “Ouch. The Daniel Jackson defense mechanism strikes again.”

“Ye-ah.” Jack raised the bottle to his mouth, then grimaced and put it down on the counter. “We should both talk to him.”

“Yes, but you're his...” _dad_ , _his_ anchor, "...his rock. And tonight you'll have the luxury of time to be here. Tomorrow we'll be back to the grindstone.” Their weekend had gone to hell the minute Daniel had laid eyes on the cairn and the sterling throne. They needed to act as soon as possible. If there was a lab somewhere on that mountain there might be answers. Lots of them. “Remember, all this is partly our fault, too.”

Jack averted his eyes, but Daniel saw the pain of guilt in them. “Gimme a minute alone with him.”

Daniel smiled. “Sure. I'll take a closer look at my Godiva treat.”

* * *

Little D kicked his sneakers under his bed and dropped his dusty pants and t-shirt on the floor. He was in bad need of a shower, but he was tired and his bed beckoned. All he wanted to do was turn off the lights, huddle under his blankets and not think about tomorrow.

Which was a joke because he knew he wouldn't think of anything but tomorrow. He had hoped to get all the scolding and nagging out of the way tonight so that he only had to await his sentence tomorrow. He wanted to get to the things that really mattered, like Merlin's lab and a proper read of the sterling throne writings. He wanted to work.

He had failed to deliver the solution from his source of knowledge. But now he could at least do more than help with mission prep.

They didn't have time for this kid/parent stuff. They had to focus on the facts and how to use them.

 _But…_ his inner voice piped up.

But it had been a long time since Jack had really been mad at him. A long time since Daniel had screwed up like this, too. And he felt bad about it.

But no matter how he had attempted to explain the situation, he'd been dressed down immediately.

 _Maybe if you stopped being a brat…?_ He scowled at his nagging inside voice and took off his glasses. They were grimy, too.

When there was a knock at his door, he considered not not answering it and pretending to be already asleep, but the dog let out a low 'Woof' and Jack took that as a sign to enter.

“Hey.” He strolled in, went to Daniel's desk, retrieved the Baoding balls from their box and started rolling them around each other on his palm.

The balls with the ying yang symbols painted on them had a calming effect and Daniel used them, too, when he was stressed or anxious. They were made from jade, with two hollow spheres and a small chime inside which emitted a faint jingle when the balls were set in motion.

They used to come out of their box quite often whenever a serious conversation had taken place in Daniel's room, when Jack needed something to calm him.

It had been a while since Jack had played with them.

“Hey.” Daniel sat on his bed and stroked Flyboy's neck.

Jack pursed his lips, not quite a scowl. “So, what's your excuse...”

“I prefer explanation,” Daniel muttered and winced. That brain-to-mouth filter really didn't work tonight.

“Didn't I say groveling is the way to go?”

“I'm bad at groveling,” Daniel mumbled, pulling at a lose thread on his boxer shorts, eyes fixed on his dog.

 _Chime-click-chime-click-chime_ … the baubles were moving a little faster. “Okay, what's your _explanation_ for smoking weed?”

“I had to. To be able to focus on meeting Immookalee. I had no idea Tara had the joints until she got them out to smoke one.”

“You never had trouble getting into that zone before without drugging yourself.” At least Jack didn't sound so mad anymore, his voice had lost some of its bite.

Daniel took a deep breath.

“I know, but this time it was hard. I was...” He wasn't able to put into words how he had felt. Worried. Scared. Not able to concentrate. How all his anxiety and fears had suddenly crashed down on him up there. How powerless he had felt. Drained. “I couldn't focus. I took an opportunity to help my mind to slow down, to relax.”

“You got lucky you didn't end up being on a bad trip,” Jack said. “Both of you.”

“I didn't even think about that,” Daniel murmured. “There was no room to think about anything but making that contact and getting my answers.”

“Okay,” Jack said quietly, “I get that.”

Daniel breathed a sigh of relief, but he still felt the need to clarify. “I didn't smoke because I wanted to know what it's like. I've done that before. Before… you know… the downsizing.”

“I know. Daniel told me.” click -- chime – click –- chime – click -- chime -- click, the balls slowed down. “What I don't get is, how did you know there'd be an Ancient waiting for you up there?”

“I didn't. Not right away. Tara wanted to go there because of Marc. But when we were there, I… I knew the place.” He hadn't told anyone about his dreams and visions. Now he kinda wished he had. “I, uh, dreamed about it. And I saw it during Kel'no'reem. I've been trying so hard to get in touch with Aiyana for so long. I wanted her to help me to access the knowledge Oma gave me. I thought I had all the answers and that if I only tried hard enough, I…”

“How long?” The bite was back.

“It doesn't...”

“ _How long_ , Daniel?”

He tried not to squirm under Jack's glare. He could _feel_ Jack's eyes boring into him even though he was still gazing at Flyboy's head. “Couple of weeks. Months, maybe.”

“And you didn't think you should have told us about that?” Click-chime-click-chime-click-chime-click. The movement of the baubles sped up again. “So, Daniel was right. It was a set up. They lured you up there.”

“They're in a tough position.” Daniel didn't want to defend them, but from what Imookalee had told him, it was getting harder for Oma's followers to slip under the radar of the ever watching others. “They are trying to make a change, but there's still too much resistance from those who don't believe in Oma's and Aiyana's cause. Even having Methos on their side doesn't change that. But they need to do something. The Ori are here to kill them. That's their real goal. That's why they want to grow so powerful. To destroy all Ancients.”

“Great. The whole galaxy is at the mercy of one cosmic super race trying to wipe out another super race by sucking energy from us lower beings. And you had to get in the middle of that...” The sound of the ying-yang balls had stopped.

“We're all in the middle of that. We've been in the middle of that for a very long time now,” Daniel pointed out with a huff.

“Yeah, but we're in this together. No solo-runs. No trying to figure this out on your own, buddy. And we have a clear agreement about all things Ancients.”

“I know I should've told you.” Flyboy, who had settled down at his feet, looked up and Daniel reached down to fondle his ears. “I know I broke a lot of rules. I know you and Daniel were worried.” He still kept his eyes on his dog's large head. It was easier than looking at Jack. “But I had to do something. Everyone was trying so hard.” His voice started trembling and he blinked against the moisture in his eyes. “And I was wrong all along. Oma doesn't know. She doesn't know how to defeat the Ori. I'm so stupid. And arrogant. I thought I'd meet an Ancient, ask her to jog my memory and we'd all be safe. I should've known it never works like that.” A tear trickled down his cheek.

Great. Now he not only felt stupid, but he was also crying like a baby.

The baubles were dropped into their box with a low 'thud'. Daniel felt the bed dip when Jack sat down beside him. “I'm fine,” he blurted out hastily. “I'm...” Flyboy's head became blurry.

“Daniel.”

“...fine.”

Jack's hands settled on his shoulders. ““Remember what I used to tell you when you were bottling things up and made like a hedgehog?”

Two prompts, used almost like a mantra, when Daniel had been 'younger'.

_Talk to me, Daniel. Look at me, Daniel._

Jack had kept using those same sentences over and over again, always in connection with some physical contact. A touch to the face, holding his hands, taking him by his shoulders, sometimes gentle, sometimes not so gentle. Those words had slowly become catch phrases for Daniel and he had reacted to them even when he had been in full tantrum mode. They had been Jack's way of saying; I'm here, I'm listening, but you have to work with me.

“ _Talk to me_ ,” he whispered.

“Look at me, please.”

He did. Jack's eyes were unusually soft. “You're not supposed to bottle things up and let them grow out of proportion.”

“I know.”

Jack's hands on his shoulders tightened. “You're not carrying the fate of the universe on your shoulders. And no one is expecting you to have the answer to everything. You are never alone with your problems, no matter how busy me and Daniel seem to be.”

He tried to swallow down the tears, but they just kept coming. He wanted to continue to argue, wanted to tell Jack that he hadn't told them because he hadn't even been sure he could still reach Aiyana after all this time. He wanted to rationalize all his actions, wanted to make sure Jack understood that he could handle everything the 'grown ups' could, that he didn't need…

“C'mere.”

The dam broke the moment he was gathered into those arms, hugged and held tightly in the same way they used to hold him through his nightmares, his struggles, his anger, his pain when he had been a scared and angry little boy with the memories of a man. A kiss was pressed to the top of his head and he was rocked just a little, very gently.

“I've got ya,” Jack whispered.

Daniel clung to him, his tears soaking Jack's shirt. “I'm sorry,” he sobbed, not exactly sure if he was apologizing for ruining Jack's shirt or for some of the things that happened today.

“I know, I know.”

Daniel tried to pull away, but Jack didn't let him go. As if he knew Daniel wasn't ready yet – and he probably did, because no one knew him like Jack did.

With a watery sigh he buried his burning face against Jack's shoulder. “God, this is embarrassing,” he mumbled into the fabric of Jack's black tee.

“No. It's long overdue,” BD's voice came from the door.

* * *

He had watched them hug for a couple of minutes. He wasn't sure what exactly had triggered it, but he was grateful it happened. When Jack looked up and at him over the kid's blond head Daniel saw how rattled he was by whatever they had been talking about, his brown eyes vulnerable, his face pale. Jack's hands kept rubbing LD's back soothingly.

Daniel felt another small rift close as he stepped into the room and sat down on the boy's other side. He put a tentative hand on his shoulder. LD's hair was sticky from sweat, Jack's shirt was damp from tears. But they were the most beautiful sight Daniel could imagine. His family. Jack's right arm let go of LD and came around Daniel's shoulder, pulling him into the hug.

“Screw the Ori,” Jack said, voice hoarse, “They won't get between us.”

“Nothing will get between us,” Daniel replied quietly. There was a short flashback, in his mind, to a balcony on Atlantis where they had done this before. A three-way-hug, deepening the bond between them, bringing them closer together again.

Like now.

LD, still nestled against Jack, finally turned his head to look at Daniel. He blinked away a wayward tear. But he smiled. “Origin is a big fat lie. All we have to do is make the priors see that, right?”

“Piece of cake,” Daniel deadpanned as they all slowly untangled from one another.

But as soon as Little D had composed himself a little and blown his nose, Jack said, “I mean it, Daniel. I want you to talk to us. To me, to BD. To Sam, Teal'c if that works better for you, but don't...”

“...shut us out,” Daniel finished Jack's sentence.

“I'm trying,” LD said, blushing. “It's not always...”

“...easy, I know. Nothing's easy right now, I know that, too. But we're going to fix this.” Jack reached out, ruffled LD's hair and received something between a smile and a scowl in return.

Daniel stood and stretched, then winced. “I recommend hot showers and a treat of Godiva as a bedtime sweet for everyone.”

LD cringed a little. “I, uh, opened your Godiva box this morning. Sorry for that.”

“Nice breakfast choice,” Daniel commented with a wink. “What did you have for lunch? Ice cream?”

LD stared at him. “Yeah. We did. Flyboy and I.”

Jack rolled his eyes and knuckled the kid's head. “How old are you again?”

“My age doesn't matter. Ask BD. Sugar and caffeine keeps us going.” LD dove away under Jack's arm and scurried out the room, calling over his shoulder, “Taking a shower now!”

Daniel grinned at Jack's scowl. “It could be much worse, you know? Imagine he was a mini-you instead of a mini-me.”

It was an old running joke between them, but it never failed to make Jack shudder. “Oh. God.”

“Exactly.”

* * *

Jack gave the dog one last goodnight pat and made sure Little D was fast asleep. The kid had been so knackered that he had almost passed out on the couch earlier despite all the bedtime Godiva. Jack had decided that a bit of comfort food couldn't hurt tonight and they had all raided BD's box while Little D had clued them in on all the blanks of his Knights Peak adventure.

Now it was way too late and Jack felt a little sick from too much caramel and hazelnut.

He entered the bedroom and was greeted with the rewarding sight of his lover lying spread eagle on his front, beautifully naked except for his boxer shorts. “What do I have to do to get a massage around here?” Daniel murmured, suppressing a yawn.

“Nothing. It's part of the proper care taking of grown up Daniels,” Jack answered and climbed into bed. He reached across Daniel's broad back and picked up the bottle of ginger oil from the nightstand.

He poured a small amount into his cupped hand and warmed it there for a moment before he started to gently rub it all over Daniel's upper back and shoulders. “This might hurt a little,” he warned when he began to work on taut muscles and tendons. Daniel's answer was a hiss followed by a groan.

In the soft light of the nightstand lamp Jack saw the first traces of blossoming bruises on Daniel's left hip and the lower part of his back. He was gentle on those areas and more firm on others, his long fingers expertly finding all the sensitive sore spots, all the kinks.

Daniel's responses were a variety of moans and purrs and a curse here and there.

“We need to talk a...ahh...bout… light du...ohgodyesthere...ty,” Daniel said at one point.

“Tomorrow,” Jack said.

“You have to convince Janet...”

“Tomorrow.”

“And I just had a thought about that not working gate address on the runes… ouch!”

“If I have to say 'tomorrow' one more time...” Jack dug into Daniel's left shoulder just a little harder than necessary.

“Bastard,” he ground out.

“Sorry,” Jack said with a smirk and Daniel let out a huff of laughter.

“Sorry my ass. Be nice to my body or it won't be available to you tonight.”

Jack doubted either of them was in for more than snuggling tonight, but he still gentled his touches. He wanted to help, not to make it worse. He was grateful to have Daniel back home and he vowed to make sure they weren't going to spend too many nights apart from now on.

As he continued to relieve the tension in Daniel's muscles, the oiled skin warm and pliant under his hands, Jack decided he needed to know. There wasn't a shred of doubt in him about Daniel's loyalty.

But.

“Tell me about Marc Winters,” he asked quietly, keeping his hands gentle and his strokes steady.

Daniel tensed up, his whole body turning unyielding and hard. “The bandana. I only noticed Tara wearing it when I took her home.”

“Winter wasn't a bandana kinda guy.” Jack's hands stilled on his lover's shoulder blades, the scapula.

“No, he wasn't.” Daniel brushed Jack's hands off and rolled onto his back. They locked eyes. “The moment before he was hit he told me he was going to buy me dinner one of these days. Said life was too short to waste it with waiting for opportunities. He grinned at me and one moment later he was gone.”

Jack cupped Daniel's face with one hand, his thumb brushing over the bruise from that mission. It had faded to nothing more than a shadow. Jack was so tired of the bruises, the injuries and - most of all - of the wounds from the pain you couldn't see on the body.

“We worked well together, he never overstepped any boundaries except for that bandana. I didn't even notice it was gone until recently.” Daniel's eyes closed. “I had no idea, Jack. But I keep seeing him. How he goes down, that expression on his face. Still grinning and then surprised and then… nothing.”

There was nothing Jack could do about that. Things like that kept haunting you until they faded to the background. But the imprint of it would always be a part of you. One more mark on the soul.

“What do you need?”

Daniel opened his eyes again, a deep ocean of sadness, but also warmth and love. “Right now I need you to hold me. Make me _feel_ you're here.”

“I can do that.”

They moved into their familiar position, Jack curling around Daniel, covering him like a blanket, chin resting on his right shoulder, hands on his solar plexus, legs entwined. Jack rubbed the heel of his foot down Daniel's calf. Daniel melted into his chest, his stomach, his crotch, being everywhere, solid, heavy. They did this a lot. Sometimes the positions were reversed, but this was their comfort zone, their way of holding onto each other, listening to each other's breathing.

Minutes passed, Daniel's body relaxed, Jack nuzzled the favorite spot behind his earlobe.

“I had no idea LD was trying to contact Aiyana for so long,” Daniel said, voice already sleepy.

“I knew he started to kel'no'reem with Teal'c again, but I thought it was just to help him deal with stress.” Jack hadn't asked why, hadn't talked to Teal'c about it. He had thought it was a good thing and that was that.

“Where does it come from?” he asked, mouthing Daniel's neck. “This need to put all the weight of the world on your shoulders? This almost self destructing thing about having to sacrifice yourselves for the greater good?”

“I don't know. We've always been that way, I guess. We need to help when we can. Make a difference where we can. And we can get a little… too focused along the way. But you know all about that.” After a pause he added, “And you can be in denial about it all you want, but you can get pretty obsessive, too.”

“The only thing I'm obsessed about is you,” Jack muttered. He felt the tremors of Daniel's body as he chuckled into his pillow.

That they functioned as a family at all was a miracle on its own. But they did. Mostly. And when they didn't, they took a step back and fixed it.

  



	11. Rainbow Warriors Chapter XI

**XI**

“You want me to do… what?” Little D stared at Jack over the table.

“I don't want you to do it, I am ordering you to do it. There's a fine but significant difference in that,” Jack said, unfazed by the shocked blue eyes aimed at him.

“You can't be serious.”

“Oh, but I am.” Jack continued eating his scrambled eggs and bacon.

“Daaa-ni-eeel!” LD aimed the full onslaught of his baby-blues at the grown-up version.

“It's either that or being grounded full stop until further notice.” Big Daniel took a sip of his coffee. “Your choice.”

“I'm already on a weekend curfew of 18:00...”

“Sharp,” Jack added and pretended not to see the eye-roll aimed at him from across the table.

“… I have to call you and ask for _permission_ to go _before_ I go wherever I want to go when you're not home. Plus, I'm not allowed to go anywhere but to the library or the Rainbow Center until you decide I can be trusted again to go other places without,” LD made air quotes with his fingers, “'supervision'. And I have to take breaks and cut down my work hours and stick with the new schedule.”

“That's right.” Jack pointed at LD's plate. “And you're supposed to eat regular meals. No more chocolate for breakfast.”

“And I have to put up with you being my personal watchdog at Knights Peak on top of all that,” LD moaned, but started eating his eggs.

“Yep,” Jack agreed. He was looking forward to that. Even if he didn't have too much to do up there but to watch the brat and play with Ancient tech – provided they found some – he was more than happy to escape the mountain for a couple of days.

“And on top of ALL THAT you want me to...” LD swallowed his mouthful of eggs and huffed, “oh, sorry, you are _ordering_ me to write _discipline sentences_?”

“Smart as a whip, that's our boy. You got it all in one.” Jack shrugged at the warning glance from his SO. What? He'd been worrying his butt off yesterday. He had the right to be a bit snarky.

“How many for how long and what?” LD fired across the table. “I'm not going down without negotiation.”

“It's not so much sentences as paragraphs,” Daniel explained. “We want you to look up the penalty for being caught driving underage and without a license in Colorado. Next we want you to do a little research on the penalty for minors being caught with weed. And the possible long term consequences for your body from smoking weed regularly.”

LD frowned. “Do you want me to write an essay?”

“A summary,” Daniel said. “It doesn't have to be longer than, let's say, two hand written pages. Then, when you're done with that we'll go through it together to make sure you got all the valid points.”

“Do I get a smiley face if I've done good?” LD pushed his plate away.

“Sure, if you insist,” Daniel said with a totally straight face, making the kid groan in horror.

Jack decided it was time to get to the end of this and move on. “There's something for you on the counter over there.”

His son turned and eyed the paper bag as if something would jump out to bite him any second. “What's that?”

“Have a look. I picked it up on my way from the bakery this morning.”

Little D frowned, but curiosity won out and he left the table to investigate. Jack watched as he reached inside the bag and pulled out a new journal. It was a medium thick book with cream colored pages, bound in ruby red leather.

LD leafed through it. “You want me to write my 'summary' in here, every day, until it fills the whole journal?” The feisty tone had changed to incredulous whining again.

“You can take it to the mountain or the tree house or wherever you want to do your daily lines,” Daniel said.

“We want you to at least spend one hour every day reflecting on your little jaunt to Knights Peak. One hour minimum, two hours maximum,” Jack said. “No less, no more.”

“You're not allowed to do writing marathons every day to be done faster,” Daniel clarified. “And one of us will check your progress.”

“Every day?” LD groaned.

“Every day.” Jack confirmed.

“No-o way. No how. You can't seriously expect me to write lines like a… kid.” LD put the journal on the table. “I won't do it.”

Jack shrugged and finished his breakfast. “Okay. You're grounded and have your privileges removed starting now.” He reached across the table and took LD's coffee mug away from him. “No coffee, limited internet access, no socializing outside the mountain, no TV, no video games, no Ipod, no tree house, no books, no...”

LD picked up the journal. “I guess I should start on that summary right away, huh?”

“You do that.”

“Just for the record; I hate you. Both of you,” LD muttered.

“We love you,” Jack replied.

When they heard LD's door slam, Daniel raised his eyebrows, “ _No books_?”

“Hey, I had to exaggerate a little or he would have taken the grounding just to have the last word.”

“You play dirty, O'Neill.” Daniel frowned. “You think we're too hard on him? He did find something valuable after all.”

Jack shook his head. “He had it coming and he knew it. We need to keep an eye on that kid. One more year and he's a teenager. I don't expect that to be easy. And the one thing I've learned is that a bit of tough love from time to time can go a long way with him.”

“I was a very nice teenager,” Daniel said indignantly.

“So was I,” Jack said and then ducked when he was slapped with the tea towel.

* * *

The next couple of days were so full of work and activity, they felt like a blur to Little Daniel. But he didn't mind because most of it was good and most of the restrictions Jack and BD had put upon him didn't seem too bad as long as he took his breaks.

He had translated all the writings of the cairn and written down Merlin's warnings and revelations of the Ori's real intentions. There was also a section about the ark. Merlin called it 'The Ark of Truth' and that the 'sterling throne' had to be connected to it in order to make it work.

From what the Daniels figured, the ark wasn't actually a weapon, but a device to turn the priors, to make them 'see the truth' of what the Ori really were. They still didn't know where to find it or how exactly it worked, but Sam concluded it had to be something similar to their new anti-prior gun. She assumed the Ark of Truth would alter the prior's minds in a way to make them 'see'.

On Wednesday morning Jack and LD were sitting on the boulders of the outer stone ring of the medicine wheel. They were waiting to get the green light from the team working on widening the entrance to the cavern underneath the cairn without destroying the stone structure.

Daniel scribbled in his new journal and Jack worked on an old crossword. BD had joined the team of geologists who were searching for hidden caves, using geoelectrical detectors. So far the 'cave finders' hadn't come up with anything that could even remotely resemble a hidden lab.

Daniel looked up from his journal, in the direction BD and the geologists had disappeared, and let out a soft sigh.

“You wandered around with them all morning. I'm sure they'll let us know as soon as they stumble into Merlin's potions lab.”

“Ja-ack, Merlin wasn't Professor Snape.”

“That's right. He looked more like Dumbledore from what Daniel told us.”

Daniel sighed again and went back to his writing. After a moment he paused. “Jack?”

“Daniel?”

“I miss driving myself.” He nibbled at the tip of his pen until he realized what he was doing and quickly lowered it again. “I didn't do it because I was mad at you. I did it because it… it felt so great. It was exciting. There and then it was all that seemed to matter.”

Jack wrote something in his crossword before looking at him. “Well, I guess better you than her, all things considered. Still, that doesn't make it okay.”

“I know. Can I go to the center tomorrow after work?” He had to drop his pen at 15:00 sharp – unless there was an emergency. It used to be his usual time to stop working before all the Ori crap started and he had slowly but surely extended his working hours since then. It would take some time to get used to his regular schedule again, but he was willing to try. He could let Josh take him home or stay at the mountain until Jack and BD were ready to leave, but he had to occupy himself with other stuff. The gym for example. Or taking the dog for a walk, going to his quarters to read, play video games or listen to podcasts. And he was only allowed to go back to work if someone needed him for something that absolutely couldn't wait.

“Sure. Getting your first skating lesson, are ya?”

“Hmmm, maybe.” He bowed his head over his journal and continued to write his 'lines'. The notebook was filling much faster than he had expected. If he kept this up two hours every day he might be done in a couple of weeks.

“Invite her to your birthday,” Jack said after a while.

Daniel blinked. “What?”

“All kids like cake, right? There'll be cake.”

“My birthday?” No one had talked about birthday plans yet.

“Yeah, you know, that day where you get a couple of gifts, a cake and cards?”

“Are we doing something on our birthday?” He gave up on trying to focus on his lines and closed the book.

“The usual. We'll have cake, set up the grill, feed Teal'c huge amounts of everything.”

“When did you plan all this?” Daniel blinked.

“While you were busy trying to summon the Ancients.”

“Very funny,” he grumbled, but couldn't help the warm fuzzy feeling at the thought of having a team night on his birthday. Then he frowned. “I don't know about Tara. She might see through Teal'c's hat-disguise. She's very smart, in case you hadn't noticed.”

Jack snorted. “Too smart for her own good, you mean. Yeah, I noticed that. She reminds me of someone else I know.” He tapped Daniel's journal. “You're not done here, buddy.”

“You keep distracting me,” Daniel complained, but picked up his pen again. “I will never forgive you for making me do this.”

Jack made a zipping motion with his hand, grinned and went back to his crossword.

Twenty minutes later Daniel was done for today and shoved the journal into his backpack. Just when he was about to tell Jack he would go and join BD and the cave finders, Major Richardson called out to them, letting them know they were done.

LD grabbed Jack's elbow and tugged. “C'mon!” Then, realizing he was acting like a hyperactive kid, he let go and just ran ahead.

The hole underneath the cairn had been extended by several feet. Sturdy poles and a rock cage supported the cairn now to prevent it from falling apart or caving in. Daniel knelt down and peered inside at the sterling throne. It was a round plate, embedded in a frame of stone. Daniel reached out to touch it, but a hand on the collar of his t-shirt pulled him back. “Will you ever learn?”

“Ow! I touched it before, it didn't bite me.” But he shuffled to the left to make space for Jack who first held a flashlight into the hole, examining the walls, before he finally reached in and touched the 'throne'.

Daniel held his breath as the silver plate emitted a low hum and came loose. Carefully and very slowly, Jack lifted it up, pulled it towards him and sat back on his heels, holding the metal disc in both hands.

“Lee!” Jack yelled and a moment later, Bill Lee appeared by his side with the provided container. Jack lowered it inside. “That thing is heavy. Scan it for any kind of,” he waved his hand over the plate, “whatever.”

Doctor Lee scurried off only to return immediately with a tuned up Geiger counter. “Already on it, sir.” He let the device hover over the plate for a moment. The counter's ticking sound didn't change, but several lights on its display began to blink in yellow and green. “There's naquadah in there. However, we need to get it to the SGC to do further tests. See these indents in the middle? That's probably where the ark is supposed to sit. I think it's safe for Daniel to look at it now.”

“You _think_?” Jack eyeballed the throne.

“I, uh, am perfectly, uh, certain.”

Daniel squeezed himself between Jack and Bill. “It's safe. Jack, if you touch it again and focus, you might even know what it does. The writings say,” he reached into the container and traced the lines of symbols with his finger, “the throne holds the ark, the ark shows the truth to those who were blinded by evil. The heavens are hell as long as the fire burns. With the Ark of Truth enter the gate to heaven in Ver Ager. And the rest is… Star constellations. A map of sorts. I need Sam to look over this...”

“That's the milky way.” Jack pointed at a pictograph on the left and Daniel recognized the helical patterns. “And this,” he touched a cluster of stars, chiseled delicately into the surface of the disc. “is the home galaxy of the Ancients.”

“How do you...”

The nail of Jack's finger gently scraped one of the larger stars in the middle of the cluster. “Altera.” His voice was oddly detached and flat, his eyes blank.

“Altera is also the homeworld of the Ori.” BD had joined them and studied the pictographs and the writings. “Read them again, Daniel.”

“The throne holds the ark, the ark shows the truth to those who were blinded by evil. The heavens are hell as long as the fire burns. With the Ark of Truth enter the gate to heaven in Ver Ager,” Daniel read and looked expectantly at his big self.

“The Heavens are hell as long as the fire burns,” BD murmured. “The Heavens. Heaven… One of the runes said _Sideris_. I translated it into 'Heavenly Body'… A synonym for Sideris might be...”

Daniel gasped. “Celestis.”

“Celestis,” BD confirmed.

“The Ori reside on the Plains of Celestis,” Daniel exclaimed. “And their fortress is surrounded by water! Rune number three was 'water'. Rune number four was 'fire'.”

“And inside their fortress the fire burns endlessly,” BD whispered. “I saw it. I was there.”

“With all due respect, but why would the weapon to defeat the Ori be on their own homeworld of all places?” Bill Lee asked with a frown.

“Because that's the last place they would expect it to be,” Daniel said.

BD frowned. “The ark isn't on the Plains of Celestis. It says you have to _take_ the ark and go to Celestis, to confront the Ori.” He frowned. “It says there's a gate in Ver Ager. Ver Ager has to be a… a place, a village, maybe, on Altera. I think 'gate' is the wrong term here. Not if Ver Ager is on the same planet as the Plains of Celestis.”

Daniel read the writings again, biting his lip in concentration. “It says gate, but not Stargate. Maybe it's a transporter. Rings? Something that will take you from Ver Ager directly to the plains.”

“The Ark of Truth is underground,” Jack said, still in that calm detached voice. “Under the mountain.”

BD slowly turned to look at him. “Where?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. “Jack, do you know… where?”

Jack stared at him blankly for another moment, then blinked.

“Jack!?”

“What?”

“The Ark of Truth? Where… You said it's underground, under a mountain…?”

“I don't know. That's what your runes and riddles say, right?”

LD grabbed Jack's wrist. “Touch the throne again! You were so close!”

Jack touched the plate, closed his eyes and stood there for a long moment. When he opened his eyes again, he pursed his lips. “I feel… nothing. It's gone.”

“Sir?” Richardson stepped into their small circle around the container, addressing Jack. “We found something in the cave under the plate you removed and I really think you want to see this.”

* * *

Several hours later SG-1 and Bill Lee had gathered around the briefing room table. Bill looked around, his face one huge megawatt beam. “The ZPM you found under the cairn is intact and working like a charm,” he reported.

Jack gave them both thumbs of victory. “YES!”

Big Daniel couldn't smother a grin as he raised the pointer to the screen and cleared his throat. He tapped each rune in turn. “Snow. Mountains. Water. Fire. Under the Earth. Heavenly Body. Ark sitting on a sterling throne… and the ninth rune, found by Major Dixon's team yesterday… Ortus Mallum.” They had solved the puzzle of the ruins – for the most part anyway. “We know where the Ark of Truth might be. On Altera, at a place called Ver Ager or Ortus Mallum, underground, in the mountains – probably so high that there's snow. We know we have to connect the ark to the sterling throne and take it to Celestis to confront the Ori and put out their ever burning fire.”

“Or to make the priors see the truth for they were blinded by Origin,” LD added.

“Or both at once.” Daniel shrugged. “We won't know until we've actually found the ark.”

“Merlin sent us on a wild goose chase in order to not make it easy to discover the ark in case his runes fall into the wrong hands,” LD said.

“Well, he was creative, I have to give him that,” Sam stated. “As far as we can tell so far, the silver throne is probably the power source for the ark. It has a naquadah core and once the ark is connected to it, there should be a flow of energy.” Turning to Daniel she said,”You were right about the gate address, Daniel. The symbols were out of order and when we put them into the right order we got...”

“Earth's address.” Daniel had had a hunch about the gate address and asked Sam to send the chevrons through their dialing computer system. “Minus the point of Origin because you have to add that from wherever you're dialing out. The ninth rune also held the coordinates of Knights Peak. There was a bit of a discrepancy in longitude, latitude and altitude due to how much time has passed since Merlin created the runes, but he clearly wanted to point us there.”

“Right under our nose. Who would've thought.” Bill Lee shook his head.

“Apparently someone got impatient with our slow progress and decided to give us a push into the right direction,” Jack said, with a poignant look at the kid.

“I had no say in this.” LD declared. “I am a victim of Ancient shenanigans.”

“Three unknown factors remain,” Teal'c pointed out. “What are the coordinates of Altera. Where exactly is the Ark of Truth hidden and what exactly is the Ark of Truth.”

Daniel clicked on the laptop to reveal a photo of the sterling throne. “This is a pictograph of the Ori home galaxy. Hopefully we can get a high res shot and see if it's detailed enough that we can feed the computer with the image and get a match so we can pin point the coordinates.”

“We'll send a copy to the Asgard to see if they can help. Their starmaps encompass a much larger territory than ours,” Sam threw in.

“What about a gate address?” Jack asked.

“We assume there's no gate on Altera. The Ancients were the ones building the gate network once they arrived in our galaxy. It seems logical that they didn't return to Altera to place a gate there,” Daniel ended his report.

When he had been transported to the Plains of Celestis to get a little taste of the power of the Ori it had happened via the communication stones they had discovered among Merlin's treasure in England. There hadn't been any clues about where exactly Celestis was located.

“What about the ZPM?” Jack asked. “Isn't it supposed to make long-distant-gate travel possible?”

“Yes, but it can also be connected to the hyper drive of a ship to save us travel time,” Sam pointed out. “Merlin probably left it there in the hopes that whoever solved the rune riddle has a ship with hyperdrive on their hands to use the ZPM.”

“We are still looking for some kind of lab in the wider area of the cairn,” Daniel said. It was a slim hope of gathering more intel regarding Altera or the Ark of Truth.

It was frustrating how they kept running into walls and dead ends. But at least they had something to work with now and for the first time in months Daniel sensed the spirit of hope around the briefing table.

Not time to celebrate yet, but time to go back to work with fresh ideas and new energy.

As everyone rushed out he gathered his notes and closed his laptop, half listening to Jack and LD having an argument about something the kid wanted to do 'right now'. He couldn't suppress a wry smile. Some things would probably never change.

“...It's just reading...”

“You wanted to be at the briefing, I let you. It's way past working hours for you.”

“If we missed something and the location of the planet is somewhere in those files...”

“It will still be in those files tomorrow.”

Daniel wished he could just slip out and leave them to their bickering. He wanted to read through all the old files they had created from Merlin's interdimensional device they had found in Glastonbury Tor two years ago, to see if they had missed something about the location of Altera. He had a feeling the kid had come to the same conclusion and was now trying to talk Jack into letting him extend his working hours.

If they both worked on the Merlin files together, it would save them a lot of time. He opened his mouth to support Little D's idea, but then closed it again. He had vowed to be a better role model, to set a good example and to be a contributing part of the family again instead of burying himself under his own workload.

So just when Jack started to become a tad annoyed, (“You can spend the rest of the afternoon in my office, writing into your new journal if you keep this up, young man!”) Daniel stepped between them, putting one hand on Jack's chest and the other one on LD's shoulder. “Hey, guys, we need to do some serious grocery shopping for the birthday bash on Saturday. And the house needs cleaning, the lawn could use some mowing and the deck is in bad need of a scrub down.”

Jack frowned. “The grill needs a scrub down, too.”

Little D crossed his arms over his chest. “But...”

“I like your idea of reading through the old Merlin files again, but let's wait and see if Sam, Bill and Walter have any luck with a photo of the pictograph first. Those files won't go anywhere and we'll need a couple of hours each to read through all that anyway, we should go home and start on the party prepping and tackle those files tomorrow – if we have to.”

“See? That's what I said. You'll have a lot more time tomorrow to really sink your teeth into those old files.” Jack pulled a pen from the chest pocket of his blue BDU shirt and handed it to LD. “Sit down and write a grocery list. I need to sign a couple things and make two phone calls, then I'm done.”

“And I have to see Nyan and tell him to get the silver throne ready for its photo shoot.”

Jack checked his watch. “Locker room in twenty.”

LD grabbed one of the empty note pads from the briefing room table and slipped back into his chair, muttering under his breath, “No one ever heard of online grocery shopping?”

But in the end they all had fun raiding Walmart and filling their cart with everything a good BBQ needed and some stuff they didn't really need, like peanutbutter crunch ice cream and a family bag of potato chips.

Once everything was stocked in the fridge, freezer and pantry at home, Jack got out the lawnmower and the Daniels cleaned the deck of debris, cobwebs and dust.

“Been way too long since we spent our evenings out here,” Daniel said. “And if we did it was already dark.”

“It has its advantages, you don't see the dirt,” LD pointed out with grin. He looked at the grill. “Ewww, do _we_ have to clean that?”

“Uh, nope, let's leave the grill to Jack,” Daniel said quickly and they continued sweeping the wooden planks. They had put all the deck furniture on the lawn where Jack had already been with the mower.

When the deck looked presentable again, Daniel got two small bottles of coke from the fridge and they sat down on the stairs, watching Jack make his rounds with the mower. Flyboy came over and settled at their feet. It was a sunny evening and the smell of freshly cut grass tickled Daniel's nose, making him sneeze. But the warmth and the smell of summer was also the very epitome of being home.

“I still have the Chinese lanterns from the birthday party we had at my house a couple years ago. We could hang them here on Saturday,” he suggested, taking a swig from his bottle.

“Cool. I'd love that.” LD slid a bare toe over Flyboy's back and the dog rolled over to get his belly rubbed. The kid humored him and gently brushed his foot back and forth, massaging the black fur. But suddenly he sat up straight. “We didn't buy anything for a cake!”

Daniel smirked. “Oh, don't you worry, we're going to get the best cake you can imagine. It's all taken care of.”

LD gave him a wide-eyed look. “You really planned a party behind my back.”

“Did you really think we'd forget your birthday?” Daniel frowned. Where did that come from? They always celebrated their birthday.

“No. No, of course not. But I thought… No one said anything and I didn't want to talk about birthday parties with everything going on. I thought we were too busy with more important things. Which would have been totally okay. I don't need a party. I didn't feel like celebrating. I'm still not sure I do...” LD trailed off and bit his lip.

Daniel kept his eyes on Jack's lean figure. He was at the back of the yard, by the trees, both hands on the handle of the mower, totally relaxed body posture in his old cut-off jeans and gray USAF t-shirt. His silver hair was gleaming in the evening sun. Domestic bliss. Something Daniel had stopped taking for granted a long time ago. He cherished those times where they could 'play house' and pretend their lives were as normal as the lives of other people. Lately he had lost sight of that awareness a little, but Jack was right.

Sometimes it was all about the little things.

“What if this birthday was the last one we can all celebrate together. If this summer was our last summer of freedom, or worse,” he said slowly. “If the Ori have their way we'll all be collateral damage in a war so powerful, so devastating, it might wipe out our whole galaxy, the universe.” He felt LD's eyes on him. “Wiping out all Ancients will probably go hand in hand with wiping out everything else.”

“I know.”

“I know you know. And like you, we all feel we have to work even harder under that pressure, to keep that from happening. And we do.” He met LD's blue eyes. The eyes of a man, the eyes of a child. A battle of emotions and mind, something the kid had learned to master over the years. Yet, it had to be a constant tug-o-war at times like this. “We need to take time to celebrate life. To remember we are still here and we are still together. And as long as we do that, there's always hope.”

Little Daniel nodded slowly. “Life's too short and all that.”

“Yeah.”

LD raised his bottle of coke. “I'll drink to that.”

Daniel smiled as their bottles clinked. It was going to be a great party and he was looking forward to it.


	12. Rainbow Warriors Chapter XII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's hair down time! Happy birthday to both my Daniels!

**XII**

“Flyboy! Get it! You can do it!” Daniel yelled, cheering the dog on as he dashed after the red Frisbee. Tara's dachshund, The General, was right behind him, then zipped under Flyboy's belly and through between his front legs like a speeding bullet.

“Yessss, get it, get it, get it, General!” Tara slapped her hands over her face when both dogs tumbled over one another in their haste to get to the Frisbee.

They chased after their pets to make sure they were all right, but the dogs had already untangled and were now chasing after one another, the Frisbee forgotten on the lawn.

Daniel and Tara sat on the short grass and watched them play. “It's so cool that they like each other,” she said. “The General isn't usually a very social dog. He's very picky when it comes to finding new friends.”

“Flyboy loves other dogs. He hates cats, though.”

“We could walk them together sometimes,” Tara suggested. “We could meet at the park and let them play.”

“Sure, I'd like that.”

When Tara had shown up on his doorstep this morning with a large package under her arm and her dog in tow, there had been a short moment of awkwardness between them. They had met at the center three days ago and Daniel had gotten his first skating lesson, but Ron and Gray had been with them and Daniel had been too busy trying not to make a total fool out of himself on Tara's old board to think of much else that day.

Today was different. She had come for his birthday and even brought a gift. And she had tried to tame her wild hair into a bushy ponytail and was dressed in rainbow colored sneakers, pink jeans and a white sleeveless summer blouse. Her eyebrow piercing was a small silver ring with a tiny pink heart. Very girl-like.

But once they had let the dogs get to know each other and Tara had handed him his gift that weird moment had passed quickly. Daniel had unpacked the heavy rectangle box and found Tara's old board inside. She had given it new wheels and sprayed it in blue, yellow, red and green. Colors of the rainbow.

“You need a board to learn how to skate,” she had said when he thanked her, a bit overwhelmed. “And I'm too lazy to haul two boards with me to the center all the time.”

Jack had taken one look at the board and muttered something about having to order knee pads and a helmet.

Daniel had given Tara a tour of the tree house, very satisfied with how impressed she was, and then they had played with the dogs and whatever lingering awkwardness there had been, was gone now.

“What are you doing when you're not at the center or hiking mountains?” she asked him later when they were sitting on the deck stairs, bowls of peanutbutter crunch ice cream in their laps.

The General followed Flyboy around the backyard. It almost looked as if Flyboy was giving his new friend a tour of his territory.

“I read. Or I ride my bike. I got a playstation last Christmas, so I like to play games.” He shrugged. “I like nerdy stuff. The history channel and museums.”

“I love sci-fi,” she said, “Star Trek totally rocks. And I like books, too. What games do you have?”

They talked about games and books for a while and Daniel was amazed how easy this was, how natural. With Al, especially in the beginning, their conversations had often felt forced and he often felt obligated to play games his friend wanted to play.

With Tara he didn't have those issues. She didn't want to play cards or spend hours trying to solve the Rubik's Cube. She didn't want them to read comics either.

But most of all he didn't feel like he had to humor her and only do what she wanted to do in order to keep her happy.

Daniel took her to his room where she stood in front of his book shelves like a kid in a toy store, pulling out this or that one, asking if she could borrow this or that. They discovered they both loved Harry Potter and Tolkien.

They both loved to play “Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings” on Playstation. Before he knew it Daniel was in deep conversation about levels, how to get treasures, how to cheat to get more items, health and weapons.

She had some valuable tips for him and he snatched a pen and a notepad from his desk to write some of it down to share it with BD. They often played the Indie game together, one of them taking over the role of Henry Jones Sr and the other one being Indie.

“What's that?” Tara poked at his red journal on his desk.

Daniel considered telling her it was his personal journal and leave it at that, but he was still a little miffled at this part of his penalty and the need to have someone he could vent about it with won over feeling embarrassed for having to write discipline sentences.

So he showed her. “And don't think that's all he came up with to make my life miserable for the next couple of weeks,” he muttered.

“Eight to twenty four hours of community service and a fine up to fifty bucks for driving underage,” she read aloud and frowned. “That's not as bad as I thought.”

“Well, no, if you don't count the trouble you're in when your parents pick you up at the police station and discover you maybe wrecked their car,” Daniel felt compelled to remind her.

She snorted. “You won't wreck any cars.”

He grinned. “No, probably not.”

She read on and muttered, “Oh wow. A first marijuana offense should carry a fine of $100 or less and a court-ordered substance abuse program. Second offenses of underage consumption or possession mean the court will order the underage offender to complete a substance abuse program, complete a substance abuse assessment if "necessary and appropriate" and perform 24 hours of public service.” She grimaced. “I should tell Larry about this.”

“Did he find out his weed is gone?”

“Nah, he probably forgot it was in there, don't worry about it.” She leafed through the pages he had already done. At the bottom of each repetition he had written, “Every action has a reaction, every choice I make has consequences.” No one had told him to write that. At some point he had put it under one of his summaries, just like that. It used to be one of the things Doctor Svenson, his first therapist, had told him over and over again.

Somehow he had thought it was an appropriate final note to his paragraphs.

Tara took Daniel's space pen and grabbed the journal. “C'mon, let's write some lines.”

* * *

The gang started showing up around 17:00, just when the grill was heating up and the drinks were cold. It was the perfect day for BBQ, warm and sunny but not too hot. The sky was sprinkled with wispy white clouds and there was no wind. The Daniels had put up red, yellow and orange lanterns for later and Teal'c brought a “Happy Birthday” garland to hang over the gate to the backyard.

Pete immediately joined Jack at the grill where they drank beer in companionable silence as they watched the coals turn into ash. “I've missed this,” Carter's husband said after a while.

“Yeah. Thanks for the cake. It looks huge.” Jack gave Shanahan a covert look. The guy seemed relaxed, content. It probably meant he was dealing okay with not seeing his wife a lot lately. It was hard to share the spousal unit with the military. Then again Pete was a cop. He, too, had to put the job first at times.

“It IS huge,” Pete said with pride. “It's going to skyrocket our sugar level to the max.”

“Excellent!”

“I'm glad you're having this party, Jack. Sam needs this. Whatever is eating away at her, she's in bad need of some fun and distraction.”

“We all are.”

“I figured that.” Pete poked at the coals, or what was left of them. “I guess it's ready, huh?”

“Yep.” Jack put his beer down and went into the house to get the first round of steaks and sausages.

In the kitchen Little D and Tara were putting together cheese skewers with Mozzarella balls and cocktail tomatoes. The radio was on and Tara sang along to a song. “So we keep waiting, waiting on the world to change, we keep on waiting, on the world to change...”

The doorbell rang and Carter, who had her head in the fridge, looking for something, yelled over the music, “That's Janet with the Jell-o shots! Someone open the door, please?!”

“Jell-o shots?” LD asked with raised eyebrows. “Can I have one?”

“No.” Jack rolled his eyes and went to open the door. He was faced with Doc Fraiser and a huge purple cooling box. “Hair down time!” She breezed in and left the box on the doorstep for Jack to carry in. When he picked it up, he almost dropped it again. “What the… is in there?”

“Jell-o shots and a bottle of Jack,” she informed him with a cheerful smile. She was dressed in a flowing short summer dress, green clover print on white, and red high heels. Jack knew she had to come almost straight from the mountain, but she looked fresh and energized, not at all like a CMO who had just worked a double shift.

How the hell did she do that?

Jack carried the box inside. He wanted to put the jell-o shots in the fridge, but Carter shooed him right out again, saying the fridge was stocked to the brim and Fraiser said all he had to do was take it outside. “Plug it into a socket. There's a cable in a flap inside the lid.” She looked very pleased with herself. “I asked Ellen from the commissary to fix the shots for me because I had no time to do it myself. But it's my recipe. There's vodka in there. And a little bit of jello.”

Jack hauled the purple box out on the deck. “Whoa, Doc… You think that's a good idea?”

He had beer, with and without alcohol for those who had to drive, and wine for Daniel. But he hadn't intended for them to get really boozed up. In times like this there was always the possibility they'd be called in because of some shit hitting the fan and as much as he wanted them to have fun, Jack had to make sure they were still able to make rational decisions and think on their feet if that happened.

Janet put her hands on her hips and straightened up to her full height of 5'2. “I'll tell you what, Jack. My double shift just ended, no one died and no one came through with major injuries. That alone is a reason to celebrate. But most of all we haven't seen each other outside the mountain in ages and I intend to get happily drunk and make the grown up birthday boy dance with me.”

The grown up birthday boy who was just lowering a heavy tray of plates and silverware on the deck table looked up, a bit puzzled. “What?”

“Daniel!” Janet opened her purple box and retrieved the bottle of Jack Daniel's. “Happy Birthday! I'm sorry it's not wrapped, but I was already late and didn't have time to go home.”

“Thank you. I always appreciate getting Jack on my birthday. He doesn't have to be wrapped.”

“That's what I thought.” She chuckled. “And I'm sure you'll get a lot more of Jack later tonight.”

“A _lot_ more,” They hugged and Daniel carried his 'Jack' inside to put it on the coffee table where all the other gifts were.

Jack pursed his lips. “You can dance with Daniel, Doc. But I have to put a ban on the jell-o shots. Sorry.”

She took him by the arm and led him down the deck stairs, onto the lawn and towards the garden gate. “I brought a Starbucks Card for LD. And the Game of Thrones book Cassie recommended for him,” Janet said, pulling him along with her. “It's still in the car.”

She had her orange little beetle cabrio parked in front of the garage, next to Daniel's red jeep. The two of them together weren't exactly eye candy, color-wise.

“LD's gifts are on the backseat,” Janet said and Jack reached in to take the blue gift bag out. But when he started to go back to the house, she put a small hand on his arm to stop him. “I have something for everyone else, too.” She got a tiny black purse, called a clutch if Jack remembered it right, from the car's glove department and opened it.

“This has to stay off the record, sir.” Her brown-green eyes searched Jack's and he nodded his approval. He had no idea what she was up to, but Janet Fraiser belonged to his close circle of trusted people.

“Do you agree with me when I say, as your CMO, but also as your friend, that we all need a break from real life, even if it's just an evening of hanging out together, having good food, good drinks and music? That we deserve to party like there will be no tomorrow?”

Jack couldn't agree more. “What's in that clutch, Doc?”

She smiled, opened it and pulled out an unlabeled brown medicine bottle. “Any detailed explanation about what's in there or how it works will risk both of us getting in trouble. But it's based on Tretonin and I'm authorized to prescribe it.”

“What does it _do_?”

“It neutralizes any kind of toxic substance in the body system. It's a detox that will work immediately.”

Jack vaguely remembered something about a Tretonin based product the Tok'ra had experimented with last year. Or maybe the year before that. Something to do with neutralizing symbiote poison or any other poison in a host's bloodstream. Selmak and Anise had provided them with a stash of it after it had been successfully tested.

“No side effects,” she said and stepped closer. Lowering her voice she added, “Selmak told me it works with alcohol and most drugs. Apparently the Tok'ra occasionally party, too. And we tested it on mice.”

Jack, who had a hard time imagining the Tok'ra partying wild, held the bottle close to his face. But he couldn't see anything through the tinted glass. “Drunk mice?”

“Drunk _and_ stoned mice.”

“No side effects?”

“None. Not on the mice and not on the Tok'ra hosts who volunteered to be tested. Your system will be free of any traces of alcohol or drugs within minutes after taking a pinch of this in a glass of water.” She took the bottle from him and put it back into her clutch. “Before you ask – this is a one-time thing. Only for tonight. Because it's the Daniels' birthday and because I believe we all deserve a break.”

“Doctor's orders?” Jack held his arm out to her and she took it.

“You bet.”

“Jell-o shots it is.”

First there was a lot of food to tackle though.

When Jack and Janet entered the backyard, the grill was already topped with sausages, steaks and chicken breasts. The deck table was laden with pasta salad, Caesar salad, bread, garlic butter and several dips. A huge plate with cheese skewers and another huge plate with meatballs completed the buffet. Someone had brought the radio out to the deck and some guy with a raspy voice was booming across the backyard.

“ _...w_ _ell, we all just wanna be big rockstars, and live in hilltop houses, drivin' fifteen cars. The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap. We'll all stay skinny 'cause we just won't eat...”_

Jack plugged the purple box into their outer socket to keep the jell-o shots cold.

It was hair down time.

They settled down around the table and toasted to the Daniels' good health and many more years to come. Carter and Janet even sang “Happy Birthday” to them and Tara and Pete joined in. It was pretty bad, but they made up for that by singing loudly.

The Daniels blushed in unison, thanked everyone for coming and told them to “Dig in!”

The backyard rang with chatter, laughter and music. The bowls and platters were emptied one by one with very little leftovers. Jack and Pete took turns at the grill, Teal'c probably broke his own record in eating steaks. Tara was in deep conversation with Carter and the Doc about something. Little D coaxed Big D into giving him a glass of wine and ended up with a wine spritzer. And like every time he tried wine again he pulled a face and shook his head. Somehow the kid's taste buds hadn't rediscovered wine as something they loved yet.

Jack didn't think that was a bad thing.

As soon as dinner was over, the Daniels insisted on bringing out the cake. Jack couldn't blame them. That cake looked like a chocolate lover's dream come true. One layer of creamy milk chocolate topped by another layer of rich dark chocolate with white chocolate sprinkled on top. Two large white candles adorned the cake. Each candle had a red “D” on them.

Jack lit them and accompanied by another round of “Happy Birthday!” the Daniels blew them out and made their wishes.

Shanahan got a lot of ego boosts for his cake from everyone.

At some point Tara said she had brought Twister and with a little bit of coaxing and nudging she got Little D to play with her.

“I'm the spinner,” Fraiser volunteered.

“Doctor J, you too,” Tara yelled from the other end of the backyard when they had laid out the Twister mat.

“Doctor J is probably too sore to play,” the Doc said, smirking, when Doctor J groaned and shook his head.

“Too sore from what?” Tara asked.

“He's a bit of a work-out addict,” Fraiser lied without batting an eyelid. “Sometimes he overdoes it. And he's not getting any younger.”

 _Doctor J_ heaved himself out of his chair. “Okay, fine, I'm in!”

Jack scowled at his partner's retreating back. _You better stay in one piece, Doctor J. I have plans for you. Later._ He leaned back in his deck chair, fondling The General's floppy ears. Tara's dachshund had settled in his lap to take a nap, his belly full with the scraps of meat the kids had fed him under the table.

“I really like Daniel's new friend,” Carter said with a smile. She put her feet up on the chair LD had vacated and sighed. “Oh god, this cake was so good. I'm going to regret it, but oh my gosh. I chose the right guy, that's for sure.”

Pete grinned like she had just given him a medal and they kissed.

Sometimes Jack envied them just a little bit. His eyes strayed over to Daniel who had bent over, jean-clad ass in the air, one bare foot on yellow, one on green. Jack couldn't see where his hands were, but he didn't mind. The sight was interesting enough as it was.

The radio played a pearly little love song.

 _...It starts in my toes, and I crinkle my nose_ _, w_ _here ever it goes I always know, that you make me smile, please, stay for a while now, just take your time wherever you go_ _..._

“She asked me a lot of questions about how to apply for the academy,” Carter said.

“Mmmm?”

“Tara. She seems interested in joining.”

Jack tore his eyes away from Daniel. “Yeah? Cool.”

“Her dad is Major Billox. Did you know that, sir?”

“Yep.”

“Well, of course you did.” She took a sip of her beer. “We're sometimes on the range together. He's got a son, too. Larry. He'll graduate next year.”

Jack finally managed to focus on what she was saying and gave her a thoughtful look. “What kind of guy is he? I know he's excellent at what he does. Not a single black spot in his file either.” And the armory worked like an oiled machinery. Never anything amiss, all the weapons always sorted, clean and ready. Not that Jack expected anything less from someone under his command.

“Yeah, what kind of guy is that you're meeting at the shooting range, eh?” Pete asked teasingly.

“A hunk of a guy,” Carter swooned. “All muscles.”

“Great,” Pete, who was in pretty good shape himself, muttered. “How do I compete with that?”

“You cook for me. It can't get any better than that.” They kissed again. Then she seemed to remember Jack had asked her a question because she gave him an apologetic smile and said, “Frank is a decent guy, I think. He loves his kids, but he says ever since they are teens it's like living with aliens. His words.”

“Then perhaps MajorBillox needs to learn their language to communicate,” Teal'c offered.

On the mat Big Daniel declared defeat and dropped with a desperate groan when mini-him and Tara toppled over one another and landed on top of him.

“Get off me,” Daniel shouted at the kids, “or I'll tell the dog to lick your faces!”

“Ewww!”

“That's gross!”

They clambered off him and he stayed spread eagle on the ground, yelling, “I'm de-ad!”

Jack bit back a teasing _'What, again?'_. He didn't want their 'not-in-the-loop' guest to come up with nosy questions.

Flyboy went over to check on his unmoving human and delivered several dog kisses to Daniel's nose which seemed to be a great motivation to move and get off the ground. Wiping his face Daniel came slowly to his feet. “I'm done,” he announced.

He climbed the deck, lowered himself in his chair beside Jack and raised his glass of Merlot.

Carter put down her beer and jumped to her feet. “Come on, Pete, let's show those kids what a real master of Twister is.”

“Good luck with that,” Daniel snorted. “They're good.”

“Hey, my wife is a master of everything,” Pete laughed as he followed her.

“Oh, too bad I'm stuck here and can't kill my already ruined knees playing Twister,” Jack said smugly and scratched The General behind his ears. He eyed the two lonely pieces of cake left on the plate. They had feasted like there was no tomorrow. It had been a long time since they had all come together like this and they were savoring every minute of it. No one glanced at their phones or brought up work related subjects. Jack had made it very clear he didn't want to hear the words “Ori”, “Origin” or “prior” tonight. And thanks to Tara being here it was easy to leave SGC matters at the mountain.

So Jack was stuffed and just at the verge of being tipsy, but that cake was the cake of all cakes and there were only two pieces left. Jack was still contemplating the Death by Chocolate when the doorbell rang and Flyboy did his duty, announcing the new visitor by letting out several short barks. The General opened one sleepy eye when Jack transferred him from his lap to Daniel's. Then he settled down again.

The new arrival was Frank Billox, Tara's father. Jack invited him in and got a non-alcoholic beer from the fridge. “I really don't want to interrupt, sir.” Billox took the bottle and looked at it like he didn't know what to do with it.

“You're not interrupting. There's still cake left. Have a go at it before Teal'c decides it's time for his third round of dessert.”

Frank gave him a wry smile. “Poor man has to wear his hat all evening because of my kid.”

“Nah, Murray loves his hats.”

“Murray.” Billox acknowledged Teal'c's Tau'ri cover name with a nod.

Jack led the way through the living room to the deck.

Billox was a bulky guy with short cropped blond hair and sharp gray eyes in an angular face. But despite his impressive features he seemed almost a bit overwhelmed when he was faced with SG-1 sitting around the table or playing Twister on the lawn.

Tara, who was trying to hold a very acrobatic posture, yelled, “Hi, dad,” and lost her footing when she turned her head. She brushed against Carter who was on her hands and toes, with her legs crossed and one arm weirdly twisted behind her back. Little D was in a frog-like position, his face scrunched up in concentration as he tried to reach a blue spot with his left foot. But it was too late. Tara knocked out Carter, Carter went down, her shoulder smacked into LD's back and they all ended on the mat.

“I just wanted to pick up my daughter, sir. We should be on our way.” Billox bent down to pat the dachshund who had jumped off Daniel's lap once he realized the new visitor was part of his pack. “I hope the kid and the dog weren't any trouble,” he muttered when The General ran off to join Flyboy and the Twister gang.

“Billox, will you relax? Sit, enjoy your beer. The kids are having fun.” Jack pointed at Carter's empty chair.

Tara's father sat down as ordered and Daniel raised his glass at him. “Hi.”

“Doctor Jackson...”

“Daniel.”

“Okay. Daniel...” The bottle gently clicked against Daniel's glass. “Frank.”

“Hi, Frank,” Daniel said again. He pointed his glass to Teal'c. “You met… Murray.”

“Murray, sure.” Frank and Teal'c nodded at each other. “Nice hat.”

Teal'c bowed his head. “Young Daniel gave it to me for Christmas.” It was a black Stetson with a leather haltband and silver studs. To match the hat Teal'c had donned a bolo tie and a gray denim shirt. It was definitely a refreshing change from the Hawaiian shirts he often wore on team nights.

“Suits you,” Frank said and seemed to relax somewhat.

“Murray here has a very impressive hat collection,” Jack smirked. “One for every occasion. You should see his Fedoras.”

“Or his ball caps,” Daniel added.

“Your shopping culture is very different from what I was used too. When I first came here I thought it was wasteful and decadent,” Teal'c said.

“C'mon, you love shopping,” Jack teased. “You're the first one to volunteer to do all the Christmas shopping with the kid.”

“I have adapted.”

“Our mission is done,” Jack deadpanned.

Billox looked over at the kids who had lost interest in Twister and were now sitting on the grass talking to Fraiser, Carter and Pete. The General, who had joined them, was now in Sam's lap. “He's such a lapdog, that one. Always has been.” Tara's father shook his head. “I wanted a big dog. You know, like yours. To have a guard dog for the house, but I was outvoted by the family and we ended up with him.”

“Oh, ours thinks he's a lapdog, too,” Jack said. “And he's spoiled. But he knows his duty where it counts.”

“He's good for the kid,” Daniel added and Jack couldn't agree more.

Giving Flyboy to Little D after their return from Egypt had probably been a huge leap in the boy's healing process. LD had been in bad need of a companion and dog and boy were inseparable ever since.

“Must be difficult raising him,” Billox said thoughtfully. “All that gifted spirit and high IQ.”

“Nah, he's pretty smart for a dog, but we never tested his IQ,” Jack said and Daniel chuckled into his wine glass.

Billox blinked, then laughed and took another sip from his beer. “Your kid. Isn't it boring for him being home schooled on base without other kids his age?”

It was Daniel who answered that. “No, he doesn't do too well with most kids his age. He's… special.”

The SGC personnel were used to seeing LD on base; everyone knew he was Jack's foster kid and Daniel's nephew and that he had a part time job at the archeological department because he was 'gifted'. The general cover story was that LD was also home schooled on base. Only a close circle of trusted people knew the actual truth about who Little Daniel really was. Everyone else probably had their own suspicions or assumptions, but no one asked. It was a strict matter of need-to-know.

“We're very happy he finally found someone,” Daniel added. “It seems he and Tara get along very well.”

“The strange ones always find each other, I guess.” Billox looked like he sucked on a lemon. “I had no idea Daniel spends time at the Rainbow Center, too.”

“It's a great place,” Daniel said, a sharp edge creeping into his voice, and Jack was beginning to think inviting Billox to linger might not have been one of his brighter ideas.

Frank's eyes darted from Daniel to Jack. “May I speak off the record, sir?”

Jack's first impulse was to say 'No', because he had a feeling they were entering sketchy territory here. But then he remembered he wanted to get to know Tara's dad a little and it was better to do that here than on base. So he shrugged. “This is a birthday party. Nothing's 'on' the record here.” To be on the safe side he added. “Everything that's said here will stay right _here_.”

“That Rainbow Center may be a fun place. But all those kids coming together, putting bees into each other's bonnets. I'm not sure it's a good idea.” Frank placed his bottle on the table. “Sorry, I shouldn't have started. I guess I'm still hoping it's just a phase and she'll grow out of it eventually.”

“Grow out of not being straight?” Daniel's eyebrows were climbing over the rim of his glasses and the edge in his voice became a little edgier.

“I don't know if it's any comfort for you, but she might at least grow out of having to use it as a weapon against you. To provoke,” Jack said quickly. “If that's what she does.”

Billox snorted. “It's her goal in life to let _everyone_ know. The neighbors are already talking. She keeps wearing shirts that say 'Coming out' and everything has to be rainbow colored.”

“She's trying to find her niche,” Daniel said. “She's looking for acceptance. Maybe for confrontation. I don't know, but I'm sure it'll pass.”

“She's trying to drive all of us crazy if you ask me,” Frank muttered. “Is Daniel like that?”

“Driving me crazy? You bet, he is. But if you're asking if he's using his orientation to drive me crazy or force any kind of reaction from me, then no, he doesn't.”

“You're lucky there, sir,” Frank sighed.

Jack shook his head. “There's no battleground there. He told me, we talked about it, we moved on.”

“You _talked_ about it,” Billox murmured.

“Yep. All the uncomfortable stuff you know you have to talk about to your kid some day, but wish you never have to because you hope they'll always stay eight, nine or ten.” Jack felt sorry for the guy. He had a pretty good understanding of why the man was freaking a little here. Of course Jack never had to have that particular 'talk' with LD, but they used to have other weird conversations during that time when they made the transition from what they had once been to what they were now.

Billox took a deep breath. “I guess that's something my wife should do with my daughter. I did it with Larry, sort of, a couple years ago. But that was… different. Easier. Tara doesn't seem to want to talk to us, she's always pushing, always provoking.” He threw up his hands. “Puberty strikes. What can you do?”

“I don't think she chose her orientation to provoke you,” Daniel said. “I think she just doesn't know how to deal with being different from what is considered 'the norm'. Especially in a military family.”

“The social rules of the Tau'ri are often complicated.” Teal'c loaded his plate with the last two pieces of cake. “The choice of your bed partner does not change what kind of person you are. Nor does it define whether you are a warrior or not. It makes no difference in ones ability to fight. It simply does not matter.”

Billox suddenly smiled. “Those are wise words, T… Murray.” He watched the kids for another moment. Shanahan was entertaining them with some story, probably some 'out of the daily life of cops' adventure. Carter had snuggled up to him. Tara hugged her dog and Daniel sat cross-legged next to her as they listened intently.

“We used to be close, you know, Tara and I. She was a tomboy, always trying to do everything her brother did, only better. She climbed trees and ran with the best of 'em. I taught her to ski and I took her to the shooting range with me when she was old enough to respect a gun. She's one of the brightest kids I know. And she has guts.” There was tender pride in the man's voice, and a tinge of sadness.

 _Which is probably the core of the problem_ , Jack thought. He had one of those too-bright-for-their-own-good, too. He wouldn't trade him for the world, but that didn't mean it was easy. “They grow up, they change,” he said quietly. “All we can do is try to keep up.”

“And reconnect when we fall behind,” Daniel added, his eyes softening.

“Kids, eh?” Billox picked up his beer, finished it in one long gulp and stood. “Thanks for the beer. And,” he nodded at Daniel and Teal'c, “the pep talk.”

Jack figured Billox was a good guy. They were going to be okay, he and his kid. Maybe not today and not for a while, but eventually, in the long run, they'd get there.


	13. Rainbow Warriors Chapter XIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Party continues...
> 
> Please read notes for this chapter!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter contains another case of smoking weed and talk about m/m sexual contents including kinky stuff. Please make sure to read notes at the end of this chapter before moving on to the final chapter, thank you :)

**XIII**

When Tara and her dad were gone Carter and Fraiser decided it was time for Jell-o shots and the purple box was opened. In it there were at least three dozen small plastic cups filled with blue and red jello. Jack and Pete stuck to beer and Daniel brought out a new bottle of Merlot, but the girls and Teal'c started a drinking game of dice. Throw a six, have a shot, throw a five tell a joke and have a shot, throw a four make a Star Wars quote and have a shot, throw a two have a shot, throw a one – throw again and have a shot. Little Daniel announced himself to be the moderator and made sure no one cheated and everyone had their shots in the right order.

Later, when allthe jell-o shots had been downed and they had lit the lanterns, Carter and Pete were the first ones to move down on the lawn for a slowdance to a woman singing about true colors behind barricades.

“That's our cue, birthday boy,” Janet decided, blowing a kiss in Daniel's direction. “C'mon, take this southern girl to the dance floor.”

Little D sniggered and quickly left the table to make sure he wouldn't be next. “I'll get some more beer for you guys!”

Daniel slouched in his chair. “Uh, you know I'm still sore from all the fun I had on Dakara, Janet.”

“You were playing Twister. What's a little dancing?” She grabbed his hand and he followed her with a long suffering sigh.

Jack watched them move across the lawn, Janet small and delicate in Daniel's arms. She had put her head where his heart was and let him lead her to the song.

_...but I see your true colors, shining through, I see your true colors and that's why I love you, so don't be afraid to let them show, your true colors, true colors are beautiful like a rainbow…_

She smiled like the cat who stole the cream, snuggling even deeper into Daniel's broad chest as they circled and danced past Carter and her cop. Jack's mouth absently touched the neck of his empty bottle while his eyes followed Daniel and the Doc's every fluent movement, each graceful swirl, a small turn, the way Daniel rocked her gently to the slow rhythm of the music.

It was times like this where he wished he could go down there and have the next dance. Like it was the most normal thing in the world. But even though all their friends knew, Jack and Daniel rarely slipped even in their presence. Jack didn't want to risk anyone under his command being accused of being compromised.

Dancing was one of the things he and Daniel had never done, not even in private. Jack wasn't the overly romantic guy and he didn't dance. But the way Daniel's body moved to the music jogged his imagination. He licked his lips.

He put down the bottle. Cleared his throat. “So, T? You heard from Ishta lately?”

“Ineed.”

“Ry'ac?”

“He is well.”

It was always a pleasure to have these conversations with the big guy.

When Pete and Daniel swapped their partners to the next song, LD was back with a beer for Jack and cranberry juice for Teal'c and himself.

“Where did you learn to dance?” Jack asked Mini Daniel, his eyes still glued to Big Daniel.

“High School. There was a mandatory dance class in senior year.”

Jack grinned. It was just like Daniel to learn something, anything, and then remember it for the rest of his life no matter if he practiced it or not.

“I know you can dance,” LD said after a couple of minutes where he was watching the dancers on the lawn. “I remember you doing an Irish jig for us when we played Truth or Dare once.”

Jack glared at him. “No, I didn't.”

“Yes, you did.”

“Didn't.”

LD laughed. “Did. Stop that.”

“I recall you trying to teach us a traditional Irish dance in young Daniel's tree house,” Teal'c said.

“Who's dancing?” Big Daniel dropped into his chair and took a large swig of his Merlot.

“You. You never cease to amaze me with your many talents, Doctor Jackson.” Jack wanted to kiss him. Now. Daniel looked so totally kissable with his slightly mused hair, that smile on his face and those lush lips.

When everyone had finished their current drinks they started clearing the table and loading the dishwasher. Little D in particular went out of his way to gather dishes, rinse them, put them into the washer, wipe counters and put what little leftovers there were into the fridge. He even grabbed the overflowing garbage bags to take them out and throw them into the trash can, a chore he loathed as much as most other kids did.

When he returned and started scrubbing the kitchen sink with a sponge and emptied the drain filter, Jack leaned against the counter and watched him. “Is there anything you want, Danny-boy?”

Daniel rinsed the drain filter and put it back in place. “No, I'm grateful you threw a party for me. For us. I just want to help.”

“Aaand?”

“Aaand… nothing. Well, actually...” He turned wide blue eyes on Jack. “Sam and Pete told me about an Aztec exhibition in Denver. At the Museum of Natural History. It has over 300 artifacts from the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico and the Templo Mayor Museum. Sam and Pete said they'd take me tomorrow. As an extra birthday gift. I can spend the night at their place so we can leave early. And they'll drop me off again tomorrow afternoon on their way to the gym.”

“Ahhh, I don't know, Daniel. I had plans for tomorrow.”

“What kind of plans?”

“Oh, you know, the truck needs a washing, the rose bushes need pruning and I thought we could do some male bonding over painting the deck.” Jack had to bite the inside of his cheek in order to keep a straight face at Daniel's incredulous stare.

“Male bonding… what?”

“Working together on home improvement projects, that kind of stuff. We could clean the roof gutters. There's tons of stuff we haven't gotten around to doing lately.”

“Okay. We, uh, can do that male bonding thing next weekend, right?” Daniel said with forced enthusiasm.

“Oh, I'm pretty sure we won't get everything done tomorrow. There'll still be plenty to do next weekend.”

LD sighed. “I'll be back in the afternoon. I can help you guys then. But tomorrow is the last day of that exhibition and I'd really like to see it. Oh! Wait! I'll be right back! Don't move!” He bee-lined it out of the kitchen and returned only a minute later, waving his new journal at Jack. “I even did my lines today.”

Jack raised his eyebrow. “You didn't have to do that. It's your birthday, Daniel.”

“I know, I know, you told me. But I did it anyway, to show good will and all that. Now, since I did them today, I could skip them tomorrow and paint the deck or clean the roof gutter when I'm home.”

Jack leafed through the/ journal and was impressed. The kid had really done his lines, and it seemed he had managed to fill a couple more pages than usual. Then he noticed a slight difference and frowned. “Daniel? That's not your hand writing.”

He grinned a bit sheepishly. “No, it's Tara's. She did half of them. And before you start nagging, it was her idea. She said it's only fair because she was the one who got me into trouble in the first place.”

“Someone should tell her that you usually don't need anyone else to get you into trouble.” Jack handed the journal back to his son.

“So, can I go?”

“Go where?”

“Ja-ack.”

“You'll spend the night there?”

“Yes.”

“And they'll bring you back over tomorrow?”

“Yes. Say yes?”

Jack couldn't keep up the act any longer, he snorted. “Why are you still standing here? Pack your bag, get outta here.”

Daniel blinked, then gaped at him and finally boxed his arm. “You were pulling my leg!”

“Sorry, couldn't resist,” he laughed.

“I should've known you weren't going to pass an opportunity like that. Having the house to yourselves for the rest of the night and most of tomorrow. And here I was working so hard, pulling all the stops to win you over,” Daniel groaned dramatically.

“A little work never hurts,” Jack smirked. “Have fun.”

“Oh yeah. You too.” A knowing grin was aimed Jack's way before the brat dashed out.

Jack started the dishwasher and hung up the tea towel LD had left on the counter when the Doc breezed in with her little bottle of wonder in hand. “Your turn, Jack. I sobered up everyone else.”

He took the glass she handed him. A milky white liquid. “One pinch of powder, add tap water to it and you're as good as new.” She winked at him.

* * *

Daniel tilted his head back against the nest of thick fluffy pillows they had built around and behind them and watched the rings of smoke soar into the night sky. One, two, three, four.

Not bad.

“Where'd you learn that?” Jack asked, blowing out his own smoke the ordinary way.

“Abydos.” Daniel took another pull.

“Cool.”

“I can teach you.” Then he sniggered. “Or better not. If we get caught by the kid we're sooo going to regret it.”

“Oh yeah. His wrath would be horrible.” Jack raised his glass of red wine. “To Janet!”

Daniel clinked glasses with him. “To Janet! Though I'm not sure she'd approve of this.” He looked at the joint in his hand.

“She smuggled some alien anti-drug drug out of the mountain. I could've had her court-martialed,” Jack muttered. “Besides, what the doc doesn't know...”

“We have dark secrets now,” Daniel said in a hushed voice and laughed at the irony of it because dark secrets were pretty much their business. Just not the delicious kind like smoking weed on top of the roof or being fucked into oblivion by your favorite Air Force general.

“Some dark secrets are more fun than others,” Jack philosophized, a very smug grin on his face.

“Mmmmh.” Daniel had lost any sense of time since they had dragged their bodies up here for stoned stargazing and wine. But it was still dark. Above their heads the blanket of stars twinkled innocently, presenting themselves in absolute beauty.

“Like there's absolutely no evil out there.” He didn't realize he had said it out loud until Jack, who was snuggled up by his side, reached out and tweaked his left nipple.

“Hey!” Daniel shuddered pleasantly. His whole body was sore and sensitive in certain places. The phrase _It hurts so good_ fit perfectly. It had been a long time since he'd felt this used and abused – and absolutely in sync with himself.

“No thinky thoughts, remember?”

“I was looking at the _stars_.” There were circles of light around some of them and if he narrowed his eyes a little, it almost seemed like they were moving. And glowing. Beacons in the night. Pretty. Sparkling stars everywhere.

“ _Thinking._ ” Jack wagged a finger at him and Daniel grabbed it and stuck it in his mouth, suckling a little on the tip.

“You're right,” he murmured around that finger. “Thinkin's overrated.”

“Yep, totally utterly overrated,” Jack agreed happily.

Daniel let go of the finger and pulled a face. “Tastes like weed.”

Jack laughed and inhaled deeply. When he released the smoke it hung like a veil in front of his face for a moment. Mystical.

Daniel watched the smoke dissolve and thought smoking looked sexy on Jack. He wondered if it was politically correct to think smoking looked sexy on anyone, and then decided he didn't care about political correctness right now.

Jack said, “The basement is sound proof.”

“Huh?”

“Our basement. I forgot about that. I think the previous owner of this place had a band or something. I remember him telling me the room where LD's gym is now is sound proof.”

“Aaand?” Daniel snipped ash from his joint into the ashtray Jack had brought up here. Why he even owned an ashtray was a mystery. Then he remembered that Jack used to smoke when they had first met, on that mission to Abydos. A lifetime or two ago, when Daniel had opened the gate. Maybe that ashtray was a leftover artifact from that time.

“We could go down there. Whenever you feel the need for,” Jack shrugged, “combining pleasure with pain.”

“But, as you just pointed out, it's Daniel's gym.” They couldn't have wild monkey sex in Little D's gym. That was just wrong on so many levels. And besides… “I won't engage in any kinky games while the kid is home.”

Jack gazed at the sky. “It's not just about kinky stuff. He's probably getting an earful now and then when we're doing it in the bedroom, vanilla style. Down there we'd be free to at least get a little more vocal.”

“Because it's sound proof.” There was an old couch in the gym that no one used. The kid just did his work-outs there on the cross trainer, the treadmill or with his dumbbells.

“Yep.”

“We need to talk about this again when we're sober,” Daniel decided and stifled a yawn.

They always made sure to keep it quiet and discreet in the bedroom and while that could actually be very thrilling – trying to be silent – Daniel loved being vocal. They both did. There used to be a lot of cursing going on during sex, among other things. Before all the downsizing and time traveling had happened.

He blew a couple more rings, then turned his face towards Jack and their mouths met in perfect timing. The kiss was slow, lazy and tasting of herbs. “I'll never be able to look at that bath brush again without getting horny,” Daniel said when they drew apart.

Jack snorted. “You were asking for it.” Then he frowned. “If there's no Ori emergency I'm gonna keep you earth side for a week or so to avoid Fraiser's groping hands and keen eyes on you. She might jump to the wrong conclusions and cut off my balls or something.”

Daniel winced, but laughed. “Scared she might be extra thorough with rectal examination on your next physical?”

Jack shuddered. “Every time I hear her snapping those gloves...”

“No latex kink, huh?”

“No latex and no playing doctor with the doctor,” Jack groused, but sniggered and blew more smoke Daniel's way. “You are the only one who gets to play with my ass.”

Daniel grinned and nodded. “Yup. Me and me alone.” He gave Jack a dirty grin. “We need to talk about your dirty little fantasy of me in the briefing room and you in your dress blues.”

Jack groaned. “Nooo, we really don't. I can't believe I _told_ you.”

“I can't believe you never told me _before_.”

“It was just a thing...”

“You know I have a thing for you in your dress blues.”

“Ye-ah, but not like that.” Jack trailed a finger up and down Daniel's ribs. “It's just a fucked up fantasy. One I used to have way back, before we even hooked up the first time around. When I couldn't decide if I was mad at you all the time or madly in love with you. It was probably both.” The finger drew circles around his navel. “God, you're beautiful.”

Daniel was about to disagree with that statement, when Jack continued, “When I realized Daniel wasn't going to be upsized again with a bang I thought I'd lost you, _this_ you, forever. It nearly tore me apart. I love the kid, I never want to lose him again either. But...” He shook his head. “The damn weed is messing with my head.”

“But?” Daniel rested his head on Jack's chest. This was rare. And precious. Jack talking feelings.

“Getting you back put me back together again.”

“Ditto.”

At the horizon the first light of a new day was dawning. There were no more sunrises for Marc Winter and all the other victims this war had demanded so far. But as long as they were alive they would keep fighting. And as long as they kept fighting there would be hope.

A quote, Daniel couldn't remember by whom, floated into his mind. _Every sunrise is a poem written on the earth with words of light, warmth, and love._

He would try to remember that more often in the weeks and months to come.

Fin

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! :) 
> 
> For those of you who are NOT into explicit graphic m/m slash including some intense kinky play and sex toys this story shall end here. You won't miss anything of the plot if you don't read on. You will, however, miss out on Daniel receiving his birthday gift from Jack and getting some of his kinks worked out of him... :D 
> 
> Thanks to everyone who read and left kudos or comments! And for those of you who read on - welcome to Daniel's after-birthday-party...


	14. Rainbow Warriors Chapter XIV - Overload

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically this is the scene that's missing from the story after LD and the others left and before Jack and Daniel are up on the roof smoking weed. It can be read as a stand alone, too. 
> 
> Warning: This is an EXPLICIT rated chapter! Do not read on if you are squicked by the following:
> 
> explicit sexual contents, shaving/knife play, spanking, sex toys, shower sex

 

 

**Rainbow Warriors**

**Overload**

 

As soon as Daniel had closed the door behind their friends and Little D, Jack spun him around and pushed him against the hallway wall. “Hey,” Daniel said, welcoming the way Jack's groin rubbed against his, denim against denim. Friction.

And just like that, from one moment to the next, he was horny as hell. That hadn't happened in months. Not like this; craving, demanding. He shuddered when Jack's breath tickled his ear. “Play time, birthday boy.”

“Finally. I thought they'd never leave,” Daniel muttered, pushing into Jack's erection. “Happy to see me, Flyboy?”

“Woof.”

That almost killed the mood and Daniel bit hard on the inside of his cheek to keep the laughter in. He looked around, but the dog was no where in sight. He was probably snoozing happily in LD's room, taking advantage of having the whole bed to himself.

“Let me accommodate you?” Jack captured Daniel's bottom lip with his teeth and pulled teasingly before letting go.

“I insist.” He tilted his head back and Jack licked his throat. “Do we need a safe word?”

“You tell me.” Jack's lips ghosted over Daniel's neck, causing immediate goosebumps. “This is your night, your game. Anything goes. Those bruises are mostly gone, right?”

“As Janet pointed out earlier; I played Twister. So, yeah. Mostly gone.” Besides, there was no way Daniel would let a bit of ache get in the way of his birthday hanky panky. “I want toys,” he decided. “And I want you to use your imagination.” After a moment he added one single word. “Starbucks.” With this he handed himself over to the man he trusted more than anyone else on this or any other planet.

“Only you can come up with a safe word like _Starbucks_ ,” Jack muttered, shaking his head. He stepped back and raked hungry eyes over Daniel. “Strip.”

Daniel grabbed the hem of his petrol colored t-shirt, moved it upwards, revealing his abs and then his chest. He pulled the shirt over his head inch by inch, letting his biceps play. He leaned against the door frame to the dining room, shirt dangling from one finger. He dropped it to the floor and reached for his belt buckle, thrusting his hips forward as he pulled at the leather, then rested both hands on the bulge of his jeans.

“Tease,” Jack smirked.

“Ye-ah, actually, I'm not sure I'm getting this right. It's my birthday and here it seems I'm doing all the work.” He opened the buttons of his jeans, then grabbed the waistband and pushed them down.

Jack grinned and licked his lips. “Oh yeah, give me that famous Daniel Jackson pout. Can't get enough of that.”

Daniel rolled his eyes and quickly schooled his features into a more haughty look. “If you want me to be a good obedient sub you have to work for it, O'Neill.”

“You and _obedient_ never go well together,” Jack smirked. “I'm working on it though.”

He tossed his jeans at Jack who caught them before they could hit him smack in the face. Good reflexes, even after years behind a desk now. “Make me _want_ to follow orders and we have a deal.”

“You're going to be crazy with want soon. It's up to you whether you get what you want… or not,” Jack said, left eyebrow wandering upwards as he dropped the pants.

Daniel's boxer shorts joined them on the floor and in the dim light of the hallway, Jack looked his partner up and down, half a smile on his face, his eyes unreadable. He stepped into Daniel's personal space, smoothing a hand over his chest and trailed the small trimmed hairline down to his navel with a single finger. “I want you in the shower. Wet. But not soaped up. Don't touch yourself. I'll know if you did.”

“You better not make me wait then,” Daniel threw back over his shoulder on his way to the bathroom. “Get your ass in there ASAP. I'm not in the mood for patience tonight.”

Jack snorted. “Oh, but you'll get there, believe me, Doctor Jackson. Patience is a virtue and all that.”

Daniel smirked.

Things were certainly going to be very interesting.

Several years ago Jack had installed a walk-in-shower in the master bathroom, which had increased the fun of taking showers together tenfold. It had overhead lights and several different shower options from a soft misty spray to a hard massage beam to loosen the kinks in your back and shoulders. But most importantly there was enough space for two grown men to fit in and move around.

Daniel chose the aeration spray, a soft pearly flow of water infused with tiny air bubbles. He let the water cascade down his body and waited with his back to the shower door. He wanted to be surprised. The glass door opened with a low click and he felt Jack's presence in the stall even though he wasn't touched. He heard Jack rummaging around and something was put on the built-in shelf where all their shower products and the bath brush resided.

“Put your hands on your head and turn around.” The order was given with quiet authority and Jack's voice went straight to Daniel's balls. He considered being stubborn, but decided there was time for that part of the game later and did as he was told. He didn't even let his eyes stray to the shelf to see what else Jack had brought in aside from the bar of soap he showed him.

Jack reached past him and turned off the shower.

The soap set out on a slow journey over Daniel's body. It circled around his shoulders, ran down his arms and back up again, slid over his chest, to his stomach and further down to his hips and legs, his feet and then upwards again. Daniel took a deep breath of herbs and ginger. Then the soap was replaced by strong hands lathering him up.

Moments later Jack knelt in front of him, hands sliding down his hips, moving to his inner thighs. Daniel shifted, opened his legs and sighed when his genitals were soaped with gentle firmness. He was already hard and couldn't help it. He had to reach down and guide Jack's head, his fingers grabbing strands of gray hair.

“Hands off!” Jack snapped and pulled away.

“C'mon… I know you want it...” Daniel coaxed, then winced when Jack's hand suddenly squeezed his penis where the head met the shaft. “Sonofabitch!”

“Sorry, Daniel. Not getting a mouthful of soap here.”

“Chicken.” He looked down his nose at Jack and sniped. “Stop squeezing my dick!”

“Put your hands where I want them to be,” Jack snapped right back at him.

Reluctantly Daniel raised his hands and clasped them behind his head. Immediately the pressure on his cock was gone and the washing continued for another moment.

“Turn the shower back on,” Jack ordered. “And then put your hands back in position.”

The water flowed again, rinsing Daniel's body.

Jack looked up at him through the spray, his eyes narrowing. “No touching, Doctor Jackson. I know that's a tough one for you, but you'll keep your hands right there.”

He huffed in frustration, but complied.

For now.

And got his reward when Jack finally started using his tongue and mouth on Daniel's balls and shaft, licking and swirling, suckling and kissing. When Jack's mouth closed firmly around him Daniel thrust once, very gently, into the slippery warmth and Jack went with his motion, taking him all in before he started sliding his lips up and down, teasing the tip and then engulfing him once more. When Daniel felt Jack's long fingers painfully dig into his hips he stilled completely and let Jack do the work until he couldn't hold back any longer.

He came with a shout and a moan, all garbled in one guttural sound, and Jack swallowed, his throat working frantically.

Daniel wanted to touch, to cup his face, to trace the drops of semen on Jack's jaw when he released him and sat back on his heels with the smuggest expression on his face.

But he kept his hands in position.

Jack came to his feet and pressed his wet mouth against Daniel's parting lips. “You taste good.” There was tongue and the salty taste of his own cum. When Jack broke the kiss Daniel licked his lips.

“Close your eyes,” Jack whispered into his ear. “Lean back against the wall. You can lower your hands, but keep them out of the way. Don't move. Don't touch.”

He leaned back against the tiles, arms relaxed at his side, palms flat against the wall, and closed his eyes.

The water stopped.

Something soft and lathery was applied to his chin, throat and chest, then all the way down to his navel and further into his groin, his shaft, the testicles. The fragrance was different from the soap. Cedar, spicy, wood…

Sandalwood.

“Turn around. Lean back.” Jack's hands were gone, but when Daniel moved around, he settled against a solid chest and Jack's arms came around him.

Daniel tilted his head back, rested his cheek against Jack's.

“Relax. Enjoy the feel of it.” Jack's voice, low and raspy in his ear.

Daniel kept his eyes closed, didn't flinch when he felt the blade, cold metal against hot moist skin, on his jaw. Each stroke was precise and light, like a feather brushing over his neck. He tipped his head back further, baring his throat to the straight razor knife. Jack's fingertips were on his chin, barely putting pressure on it. They had done this many times before. Daniel knew how to keep his head just at the right angle.

With his eyes firmly closed he was totally dependent on his other senses. The smell of sandalwood, the sound of their joined breaths, single droplets of water falling to the floor, Jack's body cushioning his, the scrape of the blade now moving to his chest, circling his nipples teasingly. Daniel kept himself neatly trimmed on a regular basis, so Jack could easily use the knife without any pre-grooming.

Jack's other hand checked the skin, fingertips brushing expertly over the shaved areas, feeling for leftover hair that had escaped the blade.

The razor moved down Daniel's body, the hairline disappeared, he could feel how what little hair had been there, was shaven off.

Jack's hand with the blade stilled right above Daniel's groin and his other hand stared to smear the leftover shaving cream all over his abdomen and chest. Daniel's nipples were stimulated again and he moaned, but stayed absolutely still. He had excellent body control if he put his mind to it.

The blade slid over the sensitive areas of his groin, not wavering, not pausing. It caressed his inner thighs, the sides of his crotch, then it stilled just for as long as it took Jack to palm Daniel's penis. Then the blade moved again, down and up, up and down. His dick was pulled upwards, nestled against his abdomen as its underside was gently shaved.

“Doing okay?” Jack asked.

“Mmmmh.”

Suddenly the razor blade lost skin contact and Jack gave him a gentle push. Daniel moved forward, bending over and putting his hands on the edge of the built-in shelf. He spread his legs and waited for it… waited… and then felt Jack's fingers on his perineum, gentle, careful. The blade was next. Stroke, a brush of a fingertip, stroke, brush, stoke…

Daniel shuddered and Jack stilled immediately. “Don't,” he warned. “I love your balls too much to risk nicking them or anything else in that area.”

Daniel snorted. “Sorry.”

His balls were rolled in Jack's palms, one by one, then stretched to tighten the skin. The razor worked in tiny strokes and Daniel tried to keep still. He felt himself getting harder and a growl from Jack didn't exactly help with going soft again.

The seconds trickled away as Jack took his time to shave every single hair off behind Daniel's balls and the perineum. Slick hands applied more shaving cream and then the razor was back, sliding over Daniel's butt.

“Smooth,” Jack murmured and kissed one ass cheek before moving on to the other. They both knew the reason for the act of shaving wasn't that Jack preferred Daniel without body hair. It was all about the knife play, the thrill of working with the blade without causing the smallest nick on Daniel's skin. For Daniel it was all about trust and turning himself over, letting go of control.

“Don't miss any,” Daniel teased. “You're distracted.”

“Oh no, I'm very focused.” There was a light slap to the cheek Jack had just kissed. “Work with me here.”

Daniel parted his legs further, bent over until his forehead almost touched the tiles, stuck out his ass. “Better?”

“Hmm.”

He wriggled just a bit and pushed back, knowing Jack's face had to be right there. Jack paid him back immediately by smacking the same spot as before, hard. The burning sensation went straight to Daniel's groin.

“If I have to tell you not to move one more time you can finish shaving yourself.”

“What? That's all you can come up with?” He snorted. “Not very creative, General O'Neill.” He hissed at the next strike of Jack's palm to his other buttock. Followed by another one.

Daniel looked back over his shoulder. “Isn't that supposed to _hurt_?” The words were teasing, but he heard the edge creep into his own voice.

He had been calm, relaxed, happy. The day had been great, the party a lot of fun. He had thought they would top it off with hours of playful love making. Nothing too harsh...

 _Oh, come on, you picked a safe word_ , he reminded himself. _And you knew why. You were waiting for this and Jack knows it._

Jack's hand struck again, most likely leaving a print. There was a first crack in Daniel's shield of self control, triggering the rise of the darkness at the bottom of his soul, luring out the familiar heavy need…

“You hit like a girl.” He pushed hard into Jack's hand when it came down once more. “Nice ass play though.”

“You _really_ want it to hurt?”

“No pain, no gain.”

“Be careful what you wish for, Daniel.” There was a threatening nuance in Jack's voice now, a dark promise of giving Daniel exactly what he was asking for. And he was more than ready to go with that flow. His whole body vibrated with it.

With the need to release all the tension, all the anger that had festered deep down inside him over the last couple of months and kept eating away at him. The fear of failure, of losing his family, those who mattered most, again, combined with the irrational stupid flares of guilt keeping him awake night after night. “Go for it,” he spat. “But if you do it, do it right.” He jerked his head to throw a glare at Jack over his shoulder. “Stop playing around!”

Today he needed more than their usual power play. And it was either Jack going all alpha on him or Daniel turning the tables and wrestling Jack into subbing. They had done that before, too, but strangely topping Jack never gave him the same kind of satisfaction when he was in a mood like this.

Their eyes met. Daniel let Jack have a glimpse of the storm that raged inside him, let his carefully built walls down. Only for Jack. Only for this moment he bared this particular part of his soul. Jack had seen it before just like Daniel had seen that same in Jack. No secrets there.

A variety of emotions crossed his partner's face. Compassion, sadness, love, understanding… and then his eyes hardened and his jaw clenched. “Fine. I live to serve.” Jack reached past him and snagged the long handled wooden bath brush from its hook.

This was new.

“Whoa!” Daniel yelled, more in shock than in pain, when the flat back of the brush exploded on his ass only seconds later.

And again.

“What?!” Jack snapped. “Not good enough?” The next one was set lower and harder. Crack! “Better?!”

Daniel hissed and snapped his head back. God, yes, he had wanted it to hurt. To bite. He wanted to FEEL it. Yet, everything in him suddenly balked at letting his control slip. His barriers came up again, stubbornly refusing him the relief of letting go. “JACK!”

“If you can't stand the fire...” Crack! “...don't play with the heat.” Crack!

“HEY!”

“You want something?” Crack!

“Fuck!” He struggled against the inner chains, gasping for air when…

Crack! “Oh, I will. Later.”

Crack! “Will you just… OW! You BASTARD!”

“Make me stop, Daniel.” Crack! “One word and it's over.” Crack! “Or let me take care of this.” Crack!

But he didn't move, didn't use the safe word. He writhed and seethed and let out a string of curses, first through gritted teeth, then yelling, switching from English to French to Arabic, hurling his rage at nothing and everything, his voice rising to a thunderous level with every cracking blow of wood on bare wet skin.

“Kol Khara! Ya Ibn el Sharmouta! Ayreh Feek! Telhas Teeze!”
    
    
    “Yeah, talk dirty to me, c'mon! We can do some of these things later!” Crack “But _you,_ ” Crack! “...told me to stop,” Crack! “...playing around and this,” Crack! “...is me not playing around!” Crack!

The fire spread from his ass down to his thighs. Arousal built steadily with the pain and the heat that seemed to slam through his whole body in waves and ripples.

Slowly, very slowly the storm subsided, the black ugly tide of fury pulled back.

The brush struck again into the ensuing loud silence. Once. Then it all stopped.

At first all Daniel was aware of were his own ragged breaths as he struggled to keep his hands on the tiled edge of the shelf, fighting the need to reach back and rub to cease the fire. God, he was rock hard. Yet, there were tears pricking at the back of his eyes, but he refused to let them fall and breathed through them.

In. Out. In…out...

“Daniel?” Jack's voice behind him, quiet, questioning, asking for direction. Not too worried, though. That was good. Daniel didn't want Jack to be freaked out by what had happened. He needed Jack to be on the same page with him and so far they had always worked in perfect sync in the sex department.

“I'm good.” And he was. In a strange way he felt lighter, less constricted. He could breathe easier.

“Need a break?”

Daniel shook his head. “I guess I deserved that, huh?” he managed to joke and felt the insane urge to laugh.

“No, you didn't. But I guess you needed it.” There was a pause and then he heard Jack suck in a breath. “Holy crap, Daniel...”

Daniel tensed up, hands clutching at the edge of the shelf. “Don't,” he warned, voice like sandpaper from all the yelling. He didn't want to talk about it. Not now, not in general. They both knew what this was about. They had raised the bar higher tonight, that was all.

“Okay.” Jack started to take care of the heat. First it was the wood of the brush being rubbed all over the sore areas, then the brush was replaced by Jack's hands gently massaging and stroking. “Getting better?”

“Getting bet-ter.” And it was. Rapidly so. “Don't stop that.”

He liked the intensity of the heat, the throb and the low-key pain he felt in the deeper tissue underneath the burn of his skin. But most of all the heat. He hung his head, taking another gulping breath. “God, that was...” He laughed. Then he had to ask, after all. “You didn't freak, did you?”

Jack snorted. If he _had_ freaked, just for a moment there, he didn't let on. He went with the game, easing them back into the more playful mood, using his hands to rub away some more of the lingering pain. “I've wanted to do that for years. You have no idea how hot your ass is, right there.”

“I can _feel_ it, thank you very much,” Daniel moaned. “Was that your jerking off fantasy after every mission I didn't follow orders?”

“You bent over the briefing room table, me wearing my dress blues.”

“With a _bath brush_?” Daniel sniggered and blinked away a wayward tear that had found its way out after all.

“Uh, no. The implements were a little…”

“Kinkier?”

“Leather.” Jack said curtly, making it very clear he wasn't going to talk about this in any more detail.

Daniel's eyebrows wandered upwards. Interesting revelations here. “Well, I hope your imagination didn't stop there.”

They had had a history of rough, angry sex after particular missions, including a bit of ass slapping and light bondage, blindfolding. They had pushed and shoved, left bruises on each other's skin from gripping too tight, being too harsh. All that was familiar ground.

But this?

Daniel couldn't believe being paddled had been such a huge vent to take the pressure off him. To get release. And if Jack hadn't stopped where he had he would have come eventually. He was still hard, even though the soothing part of his 'punishment' was actually starting to take the peak off it.

“My imagination knows no bounds.” Jack pinched him, lightly. “Lovely colors.”

Daniel wished they had a mirror in here.

“So you wanted me to be creative, eh? Let me be a little more creative here.” There was a slight tremor in Jack's voice and Daniel smirked. He wasn't the only one having fun here. Then his thoughts suddenly faded away at what was happening between his legs. He felt Jack's hands on his balls and dick again, applying something cold and slippery. Lube? More shaving cream? Daniel couldn't tell, but the sudden cold being a total contrast to the heat the bath brush had generated in his loins, made him go soft, almost flaccid.

“What the hell are you _doing_?” he ground out in frustration.

“Relax,” Jack crooned. “I need you to come down a bit for this...”

Something was slipped over his shaft, pulled down and wound around his balls. The cock ring. Daniel felt the familiar slight pressure around the base of his penis when it was adjusted and pulled tight, but not too tight. “Comfy?” There a teasing tug on his dick.

It had been a while since they had used it, but oh god, Daniel loved the feel of the elastic ring. It was just restrictive enough to make him very aware of his hardening penis and to keep the stimulation up even when he wasn't touched.

He shuddered when a finger trailed along the sore spot on his left butt cheek.

“You gonna let me finish now or do we need more attitude adjustments?”

“Shave,” Daniel ordered, voice crackling with anticipation. The cock ring promised long drawn-out pleasure play.

“Your wish is my command.” Jack returned the brush to its hook and went back to work, carefully removing hair from Daniel's crack, but avoiding the sore areas on his buttocks and sit spots.

Then the blade was gone and Jack claimed he had to check if he had done it right.

He checked with his tongue. And fingers. But just when Daniel knew he had to break the no-moving-rule again because he was getting close to the edge, Jack stopped and his hands settled on Daniel's hips as he pulled himself to his feet.

“You can move now,” Jack murmured and turned the shower back on.

It was about time.

Daniel needed to touch, to be connected. They kissed, long and hard, the water flowing down their bodies as they rubbed against one another. But Jack let out a low growl when Daniel took him in his hand to return the pleasure. “Not yet.”

“You're hard as nails.”

“And I need to keep that up until I have you in bed and can _nail_ you to the mattress.” Jack squeezed the base of his own cock and took a deep breath.”Let's shower and then get you where you belong. In bed.”

“Where I can finally get my hands on you,” Daniel growled.

“Where you're going to entertain me with all your well-honed skills.” Jack smoothed a palm over Daniel's chest. “God, shaving you is always such a turn on.”

“So is paddling my ass, huh?” Daniel chuckled and sank his teeth into Jack's shoulder. It was time to claim his gift, too.

“Geez.. don't do that,” Jack moaned. Daniel licked the bite and Jack almost purred. Then he clamped both hands over Daniel's ass and said gruffly, “Your ass is mine to do whatever I want to do with it.” He squeezed and then firmly rubbed the areas he had paddled earlier, reigniting some of that heat. “It's a great ass.”

“And it needs lots of loving attention,” Daniel agreed, trying not to wince. It still hurt. He figured he was going to feel it for a couple of days.

“Shower,” Jack ordered tersely.

Reluctantly they stepped apart and soaped each other up once again. Daniel washed Jack's hair, loving the feel of it under his hands.

To speed things up a bit they didn't towel each other off. Daniel suspected Jack needed to calm down a bit. But when they were in the bedroom Jack told him to be on his back and then he was all over Daniel again with a bottle of Cool Fix to disinfect the shaved skin.

Then he actually dripped a bit of it on his fingertips and rubbed it into Daniel's nipples. “I have a birthday present for you.”

“You do? I thought you were my present.” Daniel sucked in a breath at the cold sensation.

Jack straddled him, bent down and stole a kiss. “I am.” He reached over Daniel's head and picked something up from the nightstand. “And so is this.” A small sack made of night-blue velvet dangled from Jack's finger. “Tonight I want to reduce to you to feels only. No thinking, no mind over matter. It's all about sensation and senses. Any thoughts of Origin, death and runes are going to be erased by the pure agony of stimulation. I'm gonna make you burn, babe.”

Daniel smirked. “You already did. Make me burn.” Jack's weight on Daniel's groin created a delicious throb in his ass as it was pushed against the cool bed sheets. And the cock ring kept his dick nicely at attention. Not that he would have needed any help to be hard right now. But the little extra pressure intensified the kick. “I already have a lot of sensations going on.”

“Good. But we're far from being done.” Jack kissed him again. “Open it.”

Daniel pulled at the cord holding the sack together and let the contents fall into his open palm. For a moment he gazed at the silver chain. Two short chains attached to one long chain with small silver clamps on each end.

Y-clamps. More new ground to discover.

His cock filled even more at the visuals Daniel's mind created. “Pure agony of stimulation?”

“Overload,” Jack said, his eyes darkening. “Until you're gonna explode with it all.”

He held the chain out to Jack. “Make me scream.” He was dizzy with want. He had long stopped wondering what was wrong with him, why he tended to get off on pain. Or maybe it wasn't so much the pain, but the feeling of being owned and claimed.

He certainly never got hard when he was tortured off world, which was kinda reassuring.

Jack fastened the silver clamps to his nipples and Daniel gasped and squirmed, but shook his head when Jack reached out to remove them again. “No! God, no! Don't… This is...” He took several deep breaths, slowly getting used to his nipples being pinched and held in that position. He drew in another hissing breath when Jack lowered the chain and attached it to the cock ring.

“Daniel?”

“Gimme minute,” Daniel murmured, squeezing his eyes shut. Slowly the pain in his nipples subsided somewhat. “Okay.” He took a breath. “Wow, it's…”

Jack tilted his head. “You're blushing.” He bent over and gently lapped at the clamped buds with his tongue, then blew a cool gust of air over them.

“Oh my fuckinggodthat'samazing...” Daniel moaned, deep in his throat.

“How does it feel?” Jack drew circles around both nipples, then tugged gently on the chains.

“Kinda numb. And cold when you licked it.”

Jack smiled and climbed off Daniel. “Open up for me. I can't hold off much longer.”

“Are we getting to the nailing part?” Daniel spread his legs and pulled them to his chest, getting a nice view of the black flexible ring adorning his long hard cock at the base. The silver chain made a tinkling noise. It reminded Daniel of Jack's dog tags.

“Ohhh yeah. Nailing is about to happen.”

Jack quickly opened the hook fastened to the cock ring and readjusted the chain, pulling it more tight before he clipped it on again. There was a tug on both of Daniel's nipples and at the same time the pressure on the ring increased.

He was stuck.

Jack placed a hand over Daniel's drawn up balls. “You're going to tell me if...”

“I have a _safe word_.”

“Yeah, but remember to use it if...” Always protective, always looking out for him, that was Jack O'Neill.

Sometimes that was reassuring, but right now it was annoying.

“Jack!” Daniel fingered the chain. There was still enough room for him to move, just not to get out of the position.

“Right.”

Daniel watched as Jack settled between his open legs for a moment, just looking at him with those dark eyes. Daniel loved that look on Jack. Want. Need. Admiration. And something close to being animalistic.

Predatory.

Powerful.

But never out of control, not even now that he seemed to be on the verge of coming.

Jack used the fact that his hands didn't have to stimulate anywhere else right now to his advantage and dove into his favorite past time. Playing with Daniel's ass. And since it happened to be Daniel's favorite past time, too, there was a lot of lubing up, groping, caressing and slick finger fucking going on. Daniel rocked back and forth on Jack's fingers, letting out small whimpers or loud groans, depending on where he was touched, teased and fondled. Finally Jack applied some lube on the sore buttocks and while it increased the burning sensation at first, it then cooled the skin blissfully.

Overload.

His cock was rigid and red, pulsing with the need, but kept firmly in check by the ring and the chain.

“Jack!” Daniel raised his head. “I need you to… like… right NOW!”

“Patience,” Jack moaned and quickly grabbed the base of his own cock. “Oh, shit.”

“Screw patience!”

“Daniel! I have a plan here!”

“Which will go to hell if you shoot all over me instead of into me! And I'm gonna be VERY pissed if you do that,” Daniel snarled.

“I shoulda brought that bath brush...” Jack snapped as he lubed himself up.

Which didn't make it better.

Finally Jack lined up, pushed Daniel's legs further apart and moved in, inch by agonizing inch. Daniel gritted his teeth and fisted the bedsheets. Jack groaned and squeezed his eyes shut, droplets of sweat ran down his temple. “Waited too long...”

“Don't you DARE!”

“Don't thrust!”

“I didn't!”

Jack paused, paused and closed his eyes. His lips moving in a silent… prayer? Counting backwards?

Daniel felt the ring of muscles gave way and Jack slid in, all the way in, until his balls were plastered against Daniel's ass.

Jack opened his eyes. “Holy crap,” he rasped out.

“Hey,” Daniel whispered, overwhelmed by being filled to the hilt. He wanted this moment to last. This moment when they were joined, when Jack was inside him, completing him.

Jack looked down at him. “Hey.” He reached out and slowly, slowly pushed on the clamp of Daniel's right nipple until it snapped open.

Daniel whimpered. He bit his tongue, but couldn't smother the painful shout when the other nipple was released and the blood circulation started again.

And that was when the real kick set in.

Jack bent over him to lick the pulsing nubs. He licked and nibbled and blew over them and Daniel thought he was going to lose his mind. Everything, the bedroom, the light from the lamp on the nightstand, even Jack, dissolved and there was only space for the sensual signals his body was sending him. A throbbing pain, a heavy delicious ache in his neither regions, his anus being stretched to the max, the utter fullness of Jack's cock inside him, shuddering bolts of lust rushing up and down his nerve endings coming from all sides, making his body tremble and vibrate.

He was going to short circuit.

It was like being tortured, only it was GOOD. It was mind blowingly GOOD.

“Move, Daniel,” Jack urged him on. “Move.”

And Daniel moved. Every thrust sent more tremors through his body, heightening in his over sensitive nipples which were erect even by the touch of air on them.

Jack rode on the waves Daniel created. They found their rhythm and when Daniel's gland got hit, he lost it.

Totally utterly lost it.

He threw back his head and screamed while Jack hit it again, pounding into him like there was no tomorrow. Jack came, yelling Daniel's name. Daniel thrashed underneath him, spasmed around him and screamed again when he splattered cum all over himself.

Overload.

After that there was only white noise for a while.

Minutes or hours later, Daniel had no idea, Jack was on top of him, blanketing him, nuzzling the side of his neck, whispering, “Happy birthday,” into his ear. And one of his very rare, “Love you.”

Daniel wrapped his arms around his man and held him tight. He felt something wet on his face and brushed it away with the heel of his hand. “Thank you,” he whispered, burying his nose in Jack's hair.

“Always.” Barely above a soft croon. “Whatever helps to put you back together again.”

They both knew it would take more than the best sex of his life to put him completely back together again, but he had been at this point before and he would probably come to this point again before this war was over. He only knew one thing for certain.

“ _You_ put me back together.”

“Ditto.”

Jack removed the chain and ring and then they must have drifted into sleep for a while. Daniel came back to awareness because he was being washed with a warm wet cloth and while he just kept his eyes closed and lingered in the comfortable feeling of being taken care of, Jack started dropping kisses all over his chest and abdomen, humming with pleasure as he did. When those kisses turned into gentle licks and reached the smooth skin of Daniel's shaved groin he couldn't pretend to sleep anymore. He let out a soft moan and opened his eyes.

Jack looked up and smiled. “Hey, sleepy head.”

“Hey, Flyboy, you up to somethin'?” He rubbed his bleary eyes and cleared his throat.

Jack scowled. “I'd appreciate it if you'd stop calling me by the dog's name.”

“You got that wrong. I named the dog after you.”

“Ye-ah, actually, I always wondered about that...”

“You have the same eye color,” Daniel smiled.

“We… what?”

“Eye color. Eyes. Same eyes. Deep brown, loyal eyes, puppy dog eyes.” Daniel laughed as Jack rolled said eyes at him.

“How sore exactly is your ass, Doctor Jackson? Not sore enough?” But then there was a snigger and Jack dove down on him, blowing a raspberry on Daniel's solar plexus, making them both giggle like idiots.

Jack continued with his mouth play and when he worked on Daniel's still sensitive nipples again, Daniel hissed and squirmed a little.

“Mmmmh, I shaved you good,” Jack murmured, nibbling on his throat now.

“I'mmm not… oh… sure I can go again, I think you broke my ass. An' my dick.” Daniel's breath caught in his throat when Jack's teeth grazed the side of his neck.

“C'mon, you got yours, now it's my turn,” Jack whispered, humping against him.

“It's not like you didn't get any,” Daniel snorted, but rolled them over until he was on top of his lover, covering him with his full body, groins touching. “You okay with taking it slow now?” The burning rage had left him, all the built up tension from the last weeks had been erased. He knew it would build up again, but for now he was sated and what was still there was a low slow burn and the need to make love.

“Slow's fine by me.” They kissed, they caressed, they rubbed against each other and fondled each other. Daniel found the lube between the sheets and prepared them, taking his time with Jack's butt, making sure he was as ready as Daniel had been before. When they were both fully hard again and Daniel's dick was glistening with slickness, Jack reversed their positions again. “I want to see you,” he said huskily. “I want to see your eyes.”

Jack straddled him, sank down on him, carefully, slowly. They held eye contact the whole time. Jack sucked in a harsh breath, his eyes narrowing as he used gentle rocking motions to make his way down Daniel's shaft. At the total stand still of all movements, Jack started stroking his own cock and Daniel quickly placed his own hand over Jack's, slowing the movement down a bit. “Take your time, no rush.”

Jack let out his breath and grinned. “Almost...”

“I know,” Daniel said. He could feel the shudder run through Jack's spine, down to his butt, then the muscles opened up and Daniel was fully inside, Jack slid down on him. Their joined hands on his cock started moving faster again, up and down. Jack started to thrust slowly, balancing himself on his knees. Daniel could feel Jack's prostate when he brushed it and Jack uttered a low deep grunt, then a long moan. They moved slowly, like dancers, to music only they could hear, and Jack came first, shooting long creamy ribbons over their hands and himself.

But Daniel wasn't far behind and for the second time this night he soared away into the light only lovers were able to see. It was less of an explosion this time, less brutal, less recreational and more tender, but no less fulfilling.

They snuggled. Then sleep took them away again.

Later, when they were spooned up and holding onto each other, Jack suddenly asked, “Were you ever going to use the safe word?”

Daniel didn't immediately catch up with what he meant. “Hmmm?”

“When I paddled the living daylights outta you.”

He thought about it for a moment. How he had wanted exactly that and yet, when Jack had read him right and complied, he'd been pissed at first, then amazed, then hot and in pain. He hadn't considered using the safe word. Not even for a second. “Nope.”

Jack sighed into his neck. “Daniel… I'm never gonna do that again.”

What? “What? Why not? It was just taking things one step further. It was… hot.” He shuffled and twisted around until they were facing each other. “What?” he asked again, puzzled at the scowl directed at him.

“I need to know you'll use that damn safe word if you need me to stop. That's actually the purpose of the safe word,” Jack said, an annoyed edge to his voice.

“I know. But what I needed from you, right then, was to go on.” He bit his lip. Having to explain himself about this was always hard. He usually didn't have to. But Jack had been worried after all so they needed to talk. “The safe word is to make sure I have an out if I ever don't feel safe, if there's a lack of communication leading to misunderstandings...”

“It's also to make sure I don't overstep boundaries,” Jack blurted out. “I mean, did you _look_ at your ass?”

“Err, I don't have eyes in the back of my head, sorry, but it doesn't feel too bad.”

“Daniel...”

“Jack.” He took Jack's angular face into both hands, brushing his thumbs over Jack's cheekbones. “I'm the one who decides if or when you're crossing boundaries, not you. And I can assure you I'm never going to feel anything but safe with you. And I trust you to know when to stop.”

“I need to know you'd use it if… If you want us to continue down this road.” Jack insisted.

Daniel pulled him close until their foreheads touched. “I promise I will use it if I ever feel that I have to.”

“Okay.” They sealed it with a kiss. Then Jack pulled back and a sudden mischievous grin lit up his face. “Hey, wanna get stoned?”

Daniel blinked. “You _kept_ them?”

Jack shrugged. “There were only two left in the package. I thought what's good for the brat…”

“And Janet's anti-drug wonder works with that too?”

“Yeahsureyabetcha,” Jack sing-songed.

“Let's do it.”

And they did.

Fin


End file.
